The Reasons We Went Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals consented to work covertly to expose a network behind illegal commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are damaging the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both lived lawfully in the UK for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, barbershops and car washes across the United Kingdom, and aimed to discover more about how it operated and who was participating.

Prepared with secret cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to purchase and operate a mini-mart from which to distribute unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how simple it is for someone in these conditions to set up and run a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the operations in their names, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also were able to covertly record one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could erase government sanctions of up to £60k imposed on those hiring unauthorized workers.

"I wanted to play a role in exposing these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for us," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his safety was at danger.

The reporters recognize that tensions over illegal immigration are high in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter states that the illegal employment "harms the entire Kurdish community" and he believes driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was anxious the reporting could be used by the far-right.

He says this particularly affected him when he discovered that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Placards and banners could be seen at the gathering, reading "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media response to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and report it has caused intense anger for some. One social media post they found said: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

Another demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also read claims that they were agents for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have damaged its image. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly worried about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those seeking asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically saying, this isn't sufficient to support a dignified lifestyle," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from employment, he feels numerous are open to being exploited and are effectively "obligated to work in the unofficial sector for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office said: "We make no apology for denying refugee applicants the permission to be employed - doing so would create an reason for individuals to travel to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can require years to be decided with approximately a third taking over one year, according to government statistics from the end of March this year.

The reporter states being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to accomplish, but he explained to us he would never have participated in that.

However, he says that those he met employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals expended all of their funds to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but also [you]