Why Our Team Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish men decided to go undercover to reveal a organization behind illegal High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes the length of the UK, and wanted to find out more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Armed with secret cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to be employed, seeking to purchase and manage a small shop from which to trade illegal cigarettes and vapes.

They were successful to uncover how simple it is for a person in these situations to establish and run a business on the commercial area in full view. The individuals participating, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly document one of those at the core of the operation, who stated that he could eliminate official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those hiring unauthorized workers.

"Personally aimed to play a role in revealing these illegal practices [...] to declare that they don't characterize Kurdish people," states Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his life was at threat.

The journalists admit that tensions over unauthorized migration are high in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen hostilities.

But Ali says that the illegal working "damages the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he feels obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali mentions he was concerned the publication could be exploited by the far-right.

He says this particularly struck him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working undercover. Placards and banners could be seen at the rally, reading "we want our nation back".

The reporters have both been observing online feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has caused significant anger for some. One Facebook post they observed said: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

One more demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also read accusations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish population," Saman explains. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply worried about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for many years. He says he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive about forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't sufficient to support a dignified existence," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from employment, he feels many are open to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to labor in the unofficial economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the authorities commented: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be processed with almost a third taking over one year, according to government data from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been very easy to achieve, but he explained to us he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all of their funds to come to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] state you're forbidden to be employed - but simultaneously [you]