The Reasons We Went Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish individuals agreed to work covertly to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial businesses because the criminals are causing harm the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both lived legally in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Armed with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to buy and manage a convenience store from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and manage a business on the main street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the businesses in their identities, assisting to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the core of the operation, who asserted that he could remove government penalties of up to £60k encountered those employing illegal laborers.

"I wanted to play a role in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to say that they don't characterize Kurdish people," explains one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his life was at threat.

The investigators acknowledge that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the inquiry could worsen hostilities.

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

Separately, the journalist explains he was concerned the reporting could be exploited by the radical right.

He explains this especially affected him when he discovered that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the rally, reading "we want our country back".

The reporters have both been tracking online response to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated intense anger for certain individuals. One social media comment they observed said: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

A different urged their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also encountered accusations that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our goal is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and profoundly worried about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Practically speaking, this isn't adequate to support a respectable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from working, he believes many are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "compelled to work in the black market for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the government department commented: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - granting this would create an reason for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can take years to be decided with almost a one-third taking over a year, according to government statistics from the end of March this year.

Saman states being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to achieve, but he informed us he would never have participated in that.

However, he explains that those he encountered employed in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all of their savings to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost everything."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]