Why Our Team Went Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to uncover a organization behind unlawful main street establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived lawfully in the UK for many years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across the UK, and sought to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Armed with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to work, attempting to buy and run a convenience store from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how easy it is for a person in these conditions to start and run a commercial operation on the High Street in public view. Those participating, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, assisting to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the operation, who claimed that he could remove government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those hiring unauthorized workers.

"I wanted to participate in revealing these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize Kurdish people," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the country without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his safety was at threat.

The journalists admit that conflicts over illegal immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter states that the illegal working "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he feels obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was worried the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He states this especially affected him when he noticed that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we demand our country returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and say it has generated intense anger for certain individuals. One social media comment they observed read: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

A different urged their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish population," Saman states. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely worried about the actions of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for years. He states he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers food, according to official guidance.

"Realistically speaking, this isn't enough to sustain a dignified lifestyle," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are essentially "compelled to work in the illegal sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office said: "We are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would establish an motivation for individuals to travel to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can require multiple years to be decided with nearly a third taking more than a year, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

Saman states being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very simple to accomplish, but he explained to us he would not have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he encountered working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended all their money to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

"When [they] state you're forbidden to be employed - but also [you]