Why Our Team Went Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a operation behind illegal commercial establishments because the criminals are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the UK, they state.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was managing convenience stores, barbershops and car washes across Britain, and aimed to find out more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, looking to acquire and operate a small shop from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how simple it is for a person in these situations to start and run a enterprise on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly film one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60k faced those employing unauthorized workers.

"Personally wanted to participate in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to declare that they don't characterize us," states one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at threat.

The journalists acknowledge that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen hostilities.

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

Separately, Ali says he was concerned the coverage could be used by the radical right.

He says this especially struck him when he noticed that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Placards and banners could be seen at the rally, reading "we demand our country back".

Both journalists have both been tracking online feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and report it has sparked intense frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they spotted read: "How can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

A different called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our goal is to expose those who have compromised its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely concerned about the activities of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a charity that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

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

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which provides meals, according to Home Office regulations.

"Honestly saying, this is not enough to maintain a dignified existence," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from working, he thinks a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to labor in the black economy for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the authorities commented: "The government do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would create an incentive for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can require multiple years to be decided with approximately a 33% taking more than 12 months, according to official statistics from the late March this current year.

Saman says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite straightforward to achieve, but he informed us he would never have participated in that.

However, he says that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all of their money to come to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] state you're prohibited to work - but also [you]