Why Our Team Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish men consented to work covertly to reveal a operation behind illegal High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived lawfully in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating mini-marts, barbershops and car washes across Britain, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to work, seeking to purchase and manage a convenience store from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how straightforward it is for a person in these circumstances to start and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their names, assisting to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly document one of those at the centre of the organization, who asserted that he could remove official penalties of up to £60,000 imposed on those hiring illegal employees.

"Personally sought to participate in revealing these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they don't represent Kurdish people," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his life was at danger.

The reporters recognize that tensions over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and state they have both been worried that the investigation could worsen hostilities.

But Ali states that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was worried the reporting could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He says this especially affected him when he discovered that radical right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Signs and banners could be observed at the rally, reading "we demand our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media reaction to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and explain it has sparked intense outrage for some. One social media post they spotted stated: "In what way can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly concerned about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum claim they are fleeing political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for years. He says he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to official policies.

"Honestly stating, this is not enough to sustain a respectable existence," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely restricted from working, he thinks numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are essentially "forced to work in the illegal market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities commented: "We are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would establish an incentive for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can require multiple years to be decided with almost a 33% requiring over a year, according to official data from the end of March this current year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to achieve, but he explained to us he would not have participated in that.

However, he says that those he interviewed employed in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "confused", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

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

Ali agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] say you're not allowed to work - but also [you]