The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish individuals consented to work covertly to uncover a organization behind unlawful High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are damaging the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and aimed to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Equipped with secret cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, attempting to acquire and manage a mini-mart from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how easy it is for an individual in these circumstances to start and operate a business on the main street in full view. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the operations in their names, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly film one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60,000 imposed on those hiring unauthorized workers.

"I sought to play a role in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to declare that they do not characterize us," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the UK without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at threat.

The investigators acknowledge that conflicts over illegal immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But Ali says that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish population" and he feels driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, Ali explains he was worried the coverage could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this especially impressed him when he realized that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be seen at the gathering, showing "we demand our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been observing social media feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish community and say it has caused significant anger for some. One social media message they observed said: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

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

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly worried about the actions of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now get approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides food, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically stating, this isn't enough to maintain a dignified life," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from working, he feels numerous are open to being manipulated and are essentially "obligated to labor in the black market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "We are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the authorization to work - granting this would establish an motivation for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can take years to be decided with approximately a 33% requiring more than 12 months, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter states being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very easy to do, but he told us he would not have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he interviewed working in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all their money to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've sacrificed everything."

Ali agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

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