The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background individuals consented to go undercover to reveal a organization behind illegal commercial establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was running mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across the United Kingdom, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Armed with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, seeking to acquire and operate a small shop from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to set up and run a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to register the enterprises in their names, helping to deceive the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly record one of those at the heart of the network, who claimed that he could remove government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those using unauthorized laborers.

"Personally wanted to participate in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they don't speak for our community," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. The reporter came to the country illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a area that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his well-being was at danger.

The investigators admit that tensions over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been anxious that the probe could inflame conflicts.

But Ali states that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he believes compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was concerned the reporting could be used by the extreme right.

He says this notably struck him when he realized that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Placards and flags could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media reaction to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated strong frustration for some. One social media message they spotted read: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman states. "Our aim is to expose those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely concerned about the activities of such persons."

Most of those seeking refugee status claim they are fleeing political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He says he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to Home Office policies.

"Honestly stating, this is not adequate to support a respectable existence," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely restricted from working, he thinks a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to labor in the illegal market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities stated: "We make no apology for denying asylum seekers the permission to work - granting this would create an reason for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can require a long time to be processed with nearly a 33% taking over a year, according to government figures from the spring this year.

The reporter states working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to achieve, but he explained to the team he would never have done that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all of their money to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

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

"When [they] state you're not allowed to work - but additionally [you]