The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men decided to operate secretly to reveal a operation behind illegal main street enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they say.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was running small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and sought to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to work, attempting to acquire and operate a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these circumstances to start and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. Those involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, helping to mislead the officials.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly document one of those at the core of the network, who stated that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to £60,000 faced those using illegal workers.

"Personally sought to play a role in revealing these illegal activities [...] to say that they don't speak for our community," says one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. The reporter came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his well-being was at danger.

The investigators acknowledge that disagreements over illegal migration are significant in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But Ali states that the unauthorized working "harms the whole Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was anxious the reporting could be used by the extreme right.

He states this particularly affected him when he discovered that extreme right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Banners and flags could be observed at the protest, displaying "we demand our country back".

Both journalists have both been observing social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has caused strong anger for some. One Facebook post they spotted read: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also read claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our goal is to expose those who have compromised its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly troubled about the actions of such people."

The majority of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided about £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which offers meals, according to government policies.

"Realistically saying, this isn't sufficient to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," states the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely restricted from employment, he feels a significant number are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are practically "forced to work in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities stated: "The government are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would create an reason for individuals to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can require years to be processed with nearly a 33% requiring over 12 months, according to official figures from the end of March this year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been very simple to do, but he informed the team he would never have participated in that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all their savings to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've sacrificed all they had."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] declare you're prohibited to work - but simultaneously [you]