Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to reveal a network behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are damaging the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running mini-marts, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Armed with secret cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, seeking to purchase and operate a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how easy it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, helping to fool the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the operation, who asserted that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to £60k encountered those using unauthorized laborers.

"I sought to contribute in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not speak for Kurdish people," says Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The reporters admit that tensions over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But Ali says that the unauthorized employment "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he believes obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist explains he was anxious the reporting could be exploited by the radical right.

He explains this especially impressed him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Banners and banners could be spotted at the protest, displaying "we want our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking online reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin population and report it has sparked significant anger for certain individuals. One social media post they found stated: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our objective is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely concerned about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those seeking refugee status say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers food, according to official guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't sufficient to sustain a dignified lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from working, he thinks numerous are open to being manipulated and are essentially "compelled to work in the illegal sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office said: "The government are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the permission to work - doing so would generate an reason for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can require multiple years to be resolved with approximately a third taking more than one year, according to official statistics from the late March this current year.

Saman states being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite simple to achieve, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used all their money to come to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] say you're not allowed to work - but also [you]