The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to reveal a organization behind unlawful commercial businesses because the criminals are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived legally in the UK for many years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was managing small shops, barbershops and car washes across Britain, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Prepared with secret cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, attempting to purchase and operate a small shop from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how easy it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and operate a business on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, assisting to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to secretly record one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to £60k faced those employing illegal employees.

"Personally aimed to play a role in uncovering these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for our community," explains Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at threat.

The reporters admit that conflicts over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify tensions.

But the other reporter says that the illegal labor "damages the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he believes obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was worried the reporting could be used by the far-right.

He explains this especially affected him when he noticed that extreme right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Banners and banners could be observed at the protest, reading "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been tracking social media feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has caused strong outrage for some. One Facebook message they observed said: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also encountered allegations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly worried about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those seeking refugee status say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which offers meals, according to official policies.

"Realistically speaking, this isn't adequate to maintain a respectable lifestyle," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from employment, he believes many are susceptible to being exploited and are effectively "compelled to work in the unofficial sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department stated: "We make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - granting this would create an incentive for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be resolved with nearly a 33% requiring over one year, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

Saman states being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he told us he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all of their funds to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed everything."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] say you're forbidden to work - but additionally [you]