The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to work covertly to uncover a operation behind illegal commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are causing harm the standing of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided legally in the UK for many years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and sought to find out more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to work, looking to purchase and run a small shop from which to sell contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to discover how easy it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and manage a business on the commercial area in full view. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, helping to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly document one of those at the core of the operation, who stated that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60,000 faced those using illegal employees.

"I wanted to participate in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they do not speak for our community," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his safety was at threat.

The investigators acknowledge that conflicts over unauthorized migration are high in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the inquiry could worsen conflicts.

But the other reporter says that the illegal employment "harms the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he considers obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

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

He states this notably affected him when he realized that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and flags could be spotted at the protest, showing "we want our country back".

The reporters have both been tracking online feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and say it has generated intense frustration for some. One social media comment they observed read: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

One more called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen allegations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and profoundly worried about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing political persecution, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to official regulations.

"Practically speaking, this is not sufficient to support a dignified existence," says the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely restricted from employment, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being manipulated and are essentially "compelled to work in the illegal economy for as little as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office stated: "The government are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the right to be employed - granting this would generate an incentive for people to come to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can require a long time to be resolved with approximately a one-third requiring over one year, according to official data from the spring this year.

The reporter states working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been very easy to do, but he told us he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all their money to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've lost their entire investment."

The other reporter concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to work - but additionally [you]