Why We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurds in the Britain, they explain.

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

Investigators found that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services the length of the United Kingdom, and sought to find out more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, looking to purchase and manage a mini-mart from which to sell illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to establish and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. The individuals participating, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their names, helping to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly record one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could eliminate official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those hiring illegal employees.

"I sought to contribute in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to say that they do not characterize Kurdish people," states one reporter, a former refugee applicant personally. The reporter came to the country without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his life was at risk.

The reporters acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized labor "harms the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he feels driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist explains he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this especially struck him when he realized that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the protest, reading "we want our country returned".

The reporters have both been observing online response to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has generated significant outrage for some. One Facebook post they observed said: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also read claims that they were agents for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to expose those who have harmed its image. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply concerned about the actions of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to live on under £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers meals, according to government policies.

"Realistically saying, this is not adequate to sustain a dignified existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to work in the black sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the Home Office commented: "We make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to work - granting this would create an reason for people to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be processed with almost a third taking more than a year, according to government statistics from the end of March this current year.

The reporter says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite simple to do, but he told the team he would never have participated in that.

However, he says that those he encountered employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all their savings to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost everything."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

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