The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals decided to work covertly to expose a network behind illegal High Street establishments because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both resided lawfully in the UK for years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was managing convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it worked and who was participating.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to work, looking to purchase and operate a small shop from which to sell contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how simple it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and manage a enterprise on the main street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, helping to mislead the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly record one of those at the centre of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60,000 faced those hiring illegal workers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they do not characterize Kurdish people," says Saman, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the UK without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his safety was at threat.

The journalists acknowledge that conflicts over unauthorized migration are high in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized labor "damages the whole Kurdish population" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, Ali explains he was worried the reporting could be exploited by the far-right.

He says this especially affected him when he discovered that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Placards and flags could be seen at the gathering, showing "we demand our country returned".

Both journalists have both been observing online reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated intense outrage for certain individuals. One social media comment they found read: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

A different urged their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly concerned about the behavior of such people."

Most of those seeking refugee status say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He explains he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which offers meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Practically speaking, this isn't adequate to maintain a acceptable existence," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from working, he feels numerous are open to being taken advantage of and are practically "forced to work in the illegal sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the authorities commented: "We are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would establish an incentive for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be resolved with almost a one-third requiring over one year, according to government figures from the spring this current year.

Saman says working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very easy to do, but he explained to us he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended their entire savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've lost all they had."

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

"When [they] state you're not allowed to work - but additionally [you]