Why Our Team Went Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to work covertly to reveal a organization behind illegal High Street enterprises because the wrongdoers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team found that a Kurdish criminal operation was managing mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and aimed to discover more about how it operated and who was involved.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, seeking to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to discover how simple it is for someone in these circumstances to start and manage a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the businesses in their names, enabling to deceive the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who stated that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those using illegal laborers.

"I aimed to play a role in exposing these illegal practices [...] to say that they do not speak for us," states Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his safety was at risk.

The journalists admit that tensions over illegal immigration are high in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the probe could intensify conflicts.

But Ali says that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he feels driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist explains he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this especially affected him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Placards and banners could be observed at the protest, showing "we want our country returned".

The reporters have both been observing online response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and say it has caused intense anger for some. One social media comment they observed read: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the British authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have damaged its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely troubled about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those seeking refugee status claim they are fleeing political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He explains he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes food, according to government policies.

"Practically speaking, this is not adequate to maintain a acceptable life," states the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he believes a significant number are open to being exploited and are effectively "forced to work in the unofficial market for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the government department commented: "The government do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the permission to be employed - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can require years to be processed with almost a one-third taking over 12 months, according to official figures from the late March this year.

The reporter states working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to achieve, but he explained to us he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met employed in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent all their savings to travel to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're not allowed to be employed - but additionally [you]