The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish individuals agreed to go undercover to expose a network behind illegal main street businesses because the lawbreakers are damaging the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators found that a Kurdish criminal operation was managing mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, looking to buy and manage a convenience store from which to trade illegal cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to discover how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to set up and run a business on the main street in full view. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the businesses in their identities, assisting to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly film one of those at the heart of the operation, who asserted that he could erase government penalties of up to £60k faced those employing illegal workers.

"I wanted to play a role in exposing these illegal operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent our community," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at risk.

The investigators recognize that disagreements over unauthorized migration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal labor "damages the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he believes compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali explains he was anxious the publication could be exploited by the radical right.

He explains this particularly impressed him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the rally, showing "we want our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing online reaction to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin population and report it has generated significant outrage for some. One social media message they spotted said: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also read claims that they were agents for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those seeking refugee status say they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for many years. He explains he had to survive on under £20 a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now get about forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to official guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't sufficient to sustain a dignified existence," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from working, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "obligated to labor in the illegal economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department stated: "We are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would create an motivation for people to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be decided with approximately a third taking over 12 months, according to government data from the late March this year.

Saman explains being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite straightforward to achieve, but he told the team he would never have done that.

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

"These individuals used their entire money to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited all they had."

The other reporter acknowledges that these people seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]