The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals agreed to work covertly to reveal a organization behind illegal High Street establishments because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running mini-marts, hair salons and car washes across the UK, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was involved.

Armed with secret cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to be employed, attempting to buy and run a mini-mart from which to distribute unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to reveal how easy it is for an individual in these situations to establish and operate a commercial operation on the main street in public view. The individuals involved, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the operations in their names, enabling to fool the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly record one of those at the core of the network, who stated that he could erase official sanctions of up to £60k encountered those using unauthorized employees.

"I sought to play a role in revealing these unlawful operations [...] to say that they don't characterize our community," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the country illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at threat.

The reporters recognize that disagreements over illegal migration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the inquiry could intensify tensions.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized employment "harms the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be exploited by the radical right.

He says this notably struck him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in London on one of the weekends he was operating undercover. Placards and flags could be seen at the gathering, reading "we want our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media response to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has caused significant frustration for some. One social media post they spotted stated: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," Saman explains. "Our goal is to uncover those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly concerned about the activities of such people."

Most of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now get approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to official guidance.

"Honestly stating, this isn't sufficient to sustain a dignified existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prohibited from employment, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being manipulated and are essentially "obligated to labor in the black sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the government department said: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the permission to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can require a long time to be processed with approximately a one-third requiring more than a year, according to government statistics from the spring this current year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he told us he would never have engaged in that.

However, he states that those he met employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent their entire money to come to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed everything."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] say you're prohibited to work - but additionally [you]