Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a operation behind unlawful commercial establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the UK for years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and wanted to learn more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, attempting to acquire and operate a small shop from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how simple it is for a person in these situations to establish and manage a business on the commercial area in full view. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to register the operations in their names, helping to mislead the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly document one of those at the heart of the operation, who claimed that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing unauthorized laborers.

"I aimed to participate in revealing these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they do not characterize our community," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. The reporter came to the UK illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a area that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his life was at danger.

The reporters acknowledge that disagreements over illegal migration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But Ali says that the illegal employment "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was anxious the publication could be used by the radical right.

He states this particularly impressed him when he discovered that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Signs and flags could be seen at the protest, reading "we demand our country back".

Both journalists have both been observing online reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked intense frustration for some. One social media comment they spotted read: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

A different called for their families in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our goal is to reveal those who have compromised its image. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply troubled about the behavior of such people."

Most of those seeking refugee status say they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a organization that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, struggled for years. He explains he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes food, according to government policies.

"Practically speaking, this isn't enough to support a acceptable existence," says the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from working, he believes numerous are susceptible to being exploited and are essentially "forced to labor in the black economy for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office stated: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to work - granting this would create an motivation for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can take a long time to be decided with approximately a one-third taking over one year, according to official data from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very simple to do, but he told us he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he met employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended their entire savings to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited all they had."

The other reporter concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

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