The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish individuals consented to operate secretly to reveal a organization behind illegal High Street establishments because the lawbreakers are damaging the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was operating convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and sought to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Armed with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, seeking to purchase and manage a small shop from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how simple it is for someone in these circumstances to establish and run a enterprise on the commercial area in plain sight. Those participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could erase official fines of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those employing unauthorized employees.

"Personally sought to play a role in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they do not speak for Kurdish people," says Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the United Kingdom illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at threat.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are high in the United Kingdom and state they have both been anxious that the inquiry could intensify conflicts.

But Ali states that the unauthorized working "damages the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he believes compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was anxious the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He explains this notably affected him when he noticed that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Banners and banners could be observed at the gathering, showing "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has sparked significant anger for some. One social media comment they spotted said: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen claims that they were informants for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply troubled about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He states he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

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

"Practically speaking, this is not sufficient to support a dignified life," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from working, he feels many are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to labor in the unofficial market for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office stated: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the right to be employed - doing so would generate an incentive for people to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be decided with almost a third taking over 12 months, according to government figures from the spring this current year.

The reporter says being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he told the team he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered working in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals expended all their money to come to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited all they had."

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

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