Why Our Team Went Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish individuals consented to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal commercial businesses because the wrongdoers are damaging the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing mini-marts, barbershops and car washes the length of Britain, and wanted to find out more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, attempting to purchase and manage a convenience store from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to reveal how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to set up and manage a enterprise on the commercial area in plain sight. Those participating, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their names, enabling to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to secretly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could remove government penalties of up to £60,000 faced those using unauthorized workers.

"Personally sought to play a role in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize our community," says Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been anxious that the probe could inflame hostilities.

But Ali says that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he believes obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist explains he was concerned the coverage could be used by the far-right.

He says this particularly affected him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Placards and banners could be seen at the rally, displaying "we demand our nation back".

The reporters have both been observing social media feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin community and report it has sparked strong outrage for certain individuals. One social media message they spotted said: "How can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our objective is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply troubled about the activities of such individuals."

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

This was the situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He says he had to live on under £20 a week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now get approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to official policies.

"Honestly stating, this is not sufficient to sustain a dignified existence," states the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from employment, he believes many are open to being taken advantage of and are essentially "compelled to labor in the black market for as low as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "We make no apology for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would create an incentive for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can take years to be resolved with almost a third taking over 12 months, according to government data from the spring this year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very straightforward to do, but he told the team he would never have done that.

However, he says that those he interviewed working in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals used their entire savings to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

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