The Reasons We Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to uncover a operation behind unlawful commercial establishments because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating mini-marts, hair salons and car washes across the UK, and wanted to learn more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, seeking to buy and run a small shop from which to distribute contraband cigarettes and vapes.

They were successful to uncover how easy it is for a person in these situations to establish and run a business on the main street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, assisting to mislead the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the heart of the operation, who stated that he could erase government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those using illegal employees.

"I wanted to participate in exposing these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent Kurdish people," states one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at risk.

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

But Ali says that the unauthorized employment "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he believes driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was anxious the reporting could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this especially affected him when he noticed that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Placards and banners could be spotted at the gathering, showing "we want our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing online response to the investigation from inside the Kurdish population and say it has generated significant anger for some. One social media message they found stated: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also read accusations that they were informants for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," Saman says. "Our aim is to uncover those who have harmed its image. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely concerned about the activities of such persons."

Most of those applying for refugee status state they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, struggled for years. He says he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to official policies.

"Practically saying, this isn't enough to sustain a respectable lifestyle," states the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from working, he feels many are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to work in the illegal sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office said: "The government make no apology for denying asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would establish an motivation for people to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can require a long time to be decided with almost a one-third requiring over 12 months, according to government statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to do, but he explained to us he would not have done that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he encountered employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used their entire savings to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost all they had."

Ali agrees that these people seemed desperate.

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