The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to expose a operation behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the UK for many years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, looking to purchase and operate a convenience store from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for a person in these situations to set up and run a enterprise on the main street in public view. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their identities, enabling to mislead the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also were able to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the organization, who asserted that he could remove official penalties of up to £60k imposed on those using unauthorized laborers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in exposing these illegal operations [...] to say that they do not speak for Kurdish people," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his life was at threat.

The investigators recognize that conflicts over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been anxious that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized labor "harms the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he considers compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

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

He explains this particularly affected him when he noticed that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking online reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and explain it has caused significant anger for some. One social media comment they found said: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

Another demanded their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply concerned about the behavior of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He states he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to official policies.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't adequate to maintain a respectable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he thinks a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are practically "compelled to work in the illegal market for as low as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "We are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can require multiple years to be decided with approximately a one-third requiring more than 12 months, according to official data from the late March this current year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very easy to accomplish, but he told us he would never have done that.

However, he states that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals used all of their funds to come to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] state you're forbidden to be employed - but additionally [you]