The Reasons We Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals consented to work covertly to expose a organization behind illegal High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are damaging the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both lived legally in the UK for years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and wanted to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Armed with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, looking to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to distribute contraband cigarettes and vapes.

They were successful to discover how easy it is for someone in these circumstances to start and operate a enterprise on the High Street in full view. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly film one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could eliminate government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing unauthorized laborers.

"Personally wanted to contribute in uncovering these unlawful practices [...] to say that they don't represent Kurdish people," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant personally. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The reporters admit that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could intensify tensions.

But Ali states that the unauthorized labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

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

He states this especially impressed him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Banners and flags could be observed at the gathering, showing "we want our country returned".

Both journalists have both been observing social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and explain it has caused significant anger for certain individuals. One Facebook message they observed said: "In what way can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

A different urged their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," Saman says. "Our objective is to expose those who have compromised its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly worried about the actions of such persons."

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

This was the situation for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He says he had to live on under £20 a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to official guidance.

"Practically stating, this isn't enough to maintain a dignified existence," says the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from working, he believes numerous are open to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to labor in the unofficial market for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office commented: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can require a long time to be decided with approximately a one-third taking over one year, according to government statistics from the spring this current year.

Saman states being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very easy to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would not have done that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he encountered working in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent all their funds to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to work - but simultaneously [you]