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

Two Kurdish individuals agreed to go undercover to uncover a network behind illegal High Street establishments because the criminals are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing convenience stores, barbershops and car washes across the United Kingdom, and sought to learn more about how it worked and who was involved.

Equipped with secret cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to work, attempting to purchase and manage a convenience store from which to trade illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for someone in these situations to establish and run a enterprise on the commercial area in plain sight. Those involved, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their names, enabling to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly record one of those at the centre of the network, who claimed that he could erase government sanctions of up to £60k encountered those hiring illegal workers.

"I aimed to participate in revealing these illegal operations [...] to declare that they don't speak for Kurdish people," says Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the country without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The investigators acknowledge that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he believes obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

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

He says this notably impressed him when he discovered that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and banners could be seen at the gathering, reading "we want our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and report it has caused strong outrage for some. One social media message they observed said: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

A different urged their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also encountered allegations that they were agents for the British authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the actions of such people."

The majority of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to government guidance.

"Realistically speaking, this isn't enough to maintain a dignified life," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he feels many are open to being manipulated and are practically "forced to labor in the unofficial sector for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the government department commented: "The government do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the permission to work - granting this would establish an reason for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can take years to be resolved with almost a 33% taking more than a year, according to government statistics from the spring this year.

Saman says working illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite straightforward to achieve, but he explained to us he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered working in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They used their entire funds to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost everything."

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

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