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

A pair of Kurdish individuals decided to work covertly to expose a network behind illegal main street businesses because the lawbreakers are damaging the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

The team found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Armed with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, seeking to buy and manage a convenience store from which to sell contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these circumstances to establish and manage a commercial operation on the main street in full view. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the enterprises in their names, enabling to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly record one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could remove official penalties of up to £60k imposed on those hiring unauthorized employees.

"I sought to play a role in uncovering these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not represent our community," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his life was at danger.

The reporters recognize that tensions over illegal migration are high in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the probe could intensify conflicts.

But the other reporter states that the illegal employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he believes compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He states this especially struck him when he realized that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, showing "we want our country back".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and explain it has sparked significant anger for certain individuals. One social media message they found read: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

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

They have also seen allegations that they were agents for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our goal is to reveal those who have compromised its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and deeply worried about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum state they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a organization that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Honestly saying, this is not adequate to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from working, he feels a significant number are open to being manipulated and are practically "obligated to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "The government do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would generate an motivation for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can require years to be decided with approximately a 33% requiring more than a year, according to official data from the end of March this current year.

The reporter states working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite simple to do, but he told us he would not have participated in that.

However, he says that those he met laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all their money to come to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're prohibited to be employed - but additionally [you]