Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background men agreed to go undercover to reveal a operation behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived lawfully in the UK for years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was running mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and sought to discover more about how it operated and who was involved.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to work, seeking to purchase and run a convenience store from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to uncover how easy it is for someone in these circumstances to set up and manage a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, assisting to mislead the government agencies.

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

"Personally sought to contribute in revealing these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent our community," explains one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a region that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a state - because his life was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame conflicts.

But Ali explains that the illegal labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he believes driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was worried the reporting could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He explains this notably affected him when he noticed that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Placards and banners could be seen at the protest, reading "we demand our country returned".

The reporters have both been tracking online reaction to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has generated intense outrage for some. One social media message they spotted said: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

A different demanded their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman says. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and profoundly concerned about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides food, according to official policies.

"Realistically stating, this is not enough to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from employment, he believes a significant number are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are essentially "forced to labor in the illegal economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities said: "We make no apology for not granting asylum seekers the right to work - granting this would create an incentive for individuals to come to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can take years to be processed with approximately a one-third taking over one year, according to government figures from the spring this current year.

The reporter says working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely simple to do, but he explained to the team he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he interviewed employed in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals spent their entire funds to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've lost all they had."

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

"When [they] state you're prohibited to be employed - but additionally [you]