Why We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a network behind unlawful commercial establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team found that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of Britain, and sought to discover more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, looking to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to sell illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for someone in these situations to set up and manage a business on the commercial area in full view. The individuals participating, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the network, who asserted that he could erase government sanctions of up to £60k encountered those hiring illegal laborers.

"Personally sought to contribute in revealing these illegal practices [...] to say that they do not speak for Kurdish people," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter entered the UK illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at risk.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized migration are high in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized working "harms the whole Kurdish community" and he considers obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali explains he was concerned the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He says this notably affected him when he discovered that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity protest was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the protest, reading "we demand our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media response to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and report it has generated strong anger for certain individuals. One social media message they spotted stated: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

Another called for their families in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish community," Saman states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

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

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

"Honestly saying, this isn't enough to sustain a acceptable existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prevented from working, he feels a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are essentially "forced to labor in the unofficial market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office commented: "We make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would establish an reason for people to travel to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can take a long time to be processed with nearly a one-third taking more than a year, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter says working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite straightforward to do, but he explained to us he would not have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he met employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used their entire money to come to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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