Four newly arrived LGBT Syrian refugees will be able to openly express their sexual identity when they join the Pride celebrations in central London on Saturday. 

They arrived in London on Thursday after waiting for more than two years to be airlifted to safety.  Their situation was resolved after the Guardian highlighted the plight of 15 LGBT Syrian refugees stranded in Turkey this year.  Others in the group were expected to follow soon. 

The four refugees are said to be in a state of joy at their new circumstances. 

The Home Office accepted all of them on to a refugee resettlement scheme, avoiding the need for them to go through the often lengthy asylum process.  But instead of being fast-tracked to the UK, they were made to wait. 

Home Office sources said delays in bringing refugees such as this group to the UK were sometimes caused by a lack of suitable accommodation. 

After the Guardian published the article in April, Hammersmith and Fulham council in west London offered to provide housing and support for all 15 and the process to fly them from Turkey began. 

While some Syrian refugees who flee to Turkey are relatively safe, there were concerns over the safety of this group because of homophobic attitudes in the country.  Same-sex relationships are legal but negative attitudes prevail and some refugees have reported being pelted by rocks, followed in the street and attacked if people suspect they were not heterosexual. 

Members of the Syrian group were forced to conceal their sexual identity and in some cases to live in hiding.  Some received death threats because of their sexuality. 

The group launched a legal action against the Home Office, claiming they had been abandoned to a life of danger in Turkey despite promises to bring them speedily to safety in the UK.  Their lawyers claimed government officials were subjecting them to inhumane and degrading treatment and breaching human rights law. 

The refugees said they were at risk not only from the population at large but also from their own families, who in some cases did not know about their sexual identity. 

Toufique Hossain and Sheroy Zaq, of Duncan Lewis Solicitors, who launched the legal action, said: “These men have been forced to conceal an enormous part of their identity, not just in their country of origin but also in Turkey.  The detriment they suffered as a result of their sexuality in Turkey simply could not go on any longer; we had to ensure that their resettlement was expedited through legal channels.  We are elated that they will at last be able to be open about their sexuality in all walks of life, just in time for Pride.” 

Steve Cowan, the leader of Hammersmith and Fulham council, said: “No one anywhere should ever face death threats because of their sexuality.  I’m so happy that we have been able to provide safe refuge for these young people and that tomorrow they will proudly march with Pride for the first time in their lives.” 

A Home Office spokesman previously told the Guardian that they did not routinely comment on individual cases.