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

Two Kurdish-background individuals decided to work covertly to reveal a network behind unlawful main street establishments because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and aimed to learn more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to work, seeking to acquire and operate a small shop from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how easy it is for an individual in these situations to establish and run a commercial operation on the main street in public view. The individuals involved, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, enabling to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly record one of those at the heart of the network, who stated that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60k encountered those using illegal employees.

"I sought to play a role in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they don't represent Kurdish people," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his well-being was at threat.

The investigators admit that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal employment "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was anxious the reporting could be used by the extreme right.

He says this especially impressed him when he noticed that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, showing "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been tracking online response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish community and report it has sparked strong anger for some. One social media message they observed stated: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

One more demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read accusations that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish community," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have compromised its image. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply worried about the activities of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political discrimination, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a 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 accommodation which includes food, according to official regulations.

"Realistically speaking, this isn't sufficient to sustain a dignified lifestyle," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prevented from employment, he believes many are susceptible to being manipulated and are practically "compelled to work in the black sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the government department stated: "We are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would generate an reason for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can require multiple years to be resolved with approximately a one-third requiring over a year, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

The reporter states working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite easy to achieve, but he informed the team he would not have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met employed in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent all their money to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost everything."

Ali agrees that these people seemed desperate.

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