Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish men consented to go undercover to expose a operation behind unlawful main street businesses because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was operating mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and aimed to find out more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to work, seeking to acquire and manage a mini-mart from which to sell contraband cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these situations to start and run a business on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, helping to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly film one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could erase official fines of up to £60k faced those employing unauthorized laborers.

"Personally wanted to participate in exposing these illegal operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent our community," explains Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The reporters admit that conflicts over illegal migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But Ali explains that the illegal labor "harms the whole Kurdish population" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali says he was anxious the coverage could be seized upon by the radical right.

He states this especially impressed him when he discovered that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be spotted at the gathering, showing "we demand our country back".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and report it has caused significant frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found read: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly concerned about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking refugee status claim they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Refugee applicants now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes food, according to government policies.

"Realistically stating, this is not adequate to support a respectable lifestyle," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he believes numerous are susceptible to being exploited and are essentially "obligated to work in the unofficial market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office said: "We do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would establish an motivation for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can require multiple years to be processed with almost a third requiring over one year, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter states working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely simple to achieve, but he told the team he would not have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he encountered working in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent their entire money to travel to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to work - but also [you]