The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to work covertly to uncover a operation behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived lawfully in the UK for many years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish crime network was running convenience stores, barbershops and car washes the length of the UK, and sought to find out more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to work, attempting to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to sell contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to uncover how simple it is for an individual in these circumstances to establish and manage a business on the commercial area in plain sight. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly document one of those at the heart of the organization, who claimed that he could erase government fines of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those employing illegal laborers.

"Personally wanted to participate in exposing these illegal operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for Kurdish people," states one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the UK illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The investigators recognize that disagreements over illegal migration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame conflicts.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He states this particularly affected him when he realized that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Signs and banners could be observed at the gathering, reading "we demand our country returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media reaction to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and explain it has sparked intense outrage for certain individuals. One social media message they observed said: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and extremely concerned about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He explains he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided about forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't enough to sustain a acceptable life," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he thinks many are susceptible to being exploited and are practically "compelled to labor in the unofficial sector for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the government department said: "We make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - granting this would generate an reason for individuals to travel to the UK without authorization."

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

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to accomplish, but he told the team he would not have done that.

However, he states that those he interviewed employed in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "confused", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all of their funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've lost everything."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

"When [they] declare you're not allowed to work - but simultaneously [you]