Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish men decided to work covertly to uncover a organization behind unlawful commercial establishments because the criminals are causing harm the image of Kurds in the UK, they say.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of Britain, and aimed to find out more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, attempting to buy and operate a small shop from which to trade illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how easy it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and run a enterprise on the High Street in public view. Those participating, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their names, enabling to deceive the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to secretly document one of those at the heart of the network, who claimed that he could erase government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those using unauthorized employees.

"Personally sought to participate in exposing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they don't speak for us," states Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at danger.

The investigators recognize that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized labor "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he believes obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was anxious the coverage could be used by the extreme right.

He says this especially struck him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Banners and flags could be observed at the protest, displaying "we demand our nation back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media reaction to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin community and say it has generated strong frustration for certain individuals. One social media message they spotted read: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also read accusations that they were agents for the British government, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin community," Saman says. "Our aim is to uncover those who have compromised its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely worried about the behavior of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Refugee applicants now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which provides meals, according to Home Office policies.

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

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from employment, he feels numerous are susceptible to being exploited and are effectively "obligated to labor in the unofficial market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "We make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to be employed - granting this would establish an incentive for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can require years to be decided with nearly a one-third taking over 12 months, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

The reporter says being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to achieve, but he informed us he would not have engaged in that.

However, he says that those he met working in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals used their entire savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost everything."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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