Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to expose a network behind illegal commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are causing harm the reputation of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running small shops, hair salons and car washes throughout Britain, and sought to learn more about how it worked and who was participating.

Armed with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, looking to acquire and manage a small shop from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how easy it is for someone in these circumstances to establish and run a business on the main street in plain sight. Those involved, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their names, enabling to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also were able to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate government fines of up to £60,000 encountered those employing unauthorized workers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to say that they don't represent Kurdish people," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the UK illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a region that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his safety was at risk.

The investigators admit that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But Ali says that the illegal employment "harms the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he believes obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was concerned the publication could be used by the radical right.

He states this particularly affected him when he realized that radical right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Placards and flags could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we want our country returned".

The reporters have both been observing social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and say it has sparked intense frustration for some. One social media message they spotted read: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen accusations that they were agents for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter says. "Our objective is to expose those who have compromised its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely concerned about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum say they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for years. He explains he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes food, according to government regulations.

"Practically saying, this is not enough to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," says the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from employment, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are essentially "obligated to work in the unofficial market for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities commented: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would generate an reason for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can require multiple years to be processed with nearly a 33% requiring more than 12 months, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to achieve, but he explained to us he would not have engaged in that.

However, he says that those he met laboring in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent all their funds to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've lost everything."

Ali concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

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