Why Our Team Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish individuals decided to operate secretly to reveal a network behind unlawful High Street establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

The team found that a Kurdish crime network was operating mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was involved.

Equipped with covert cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, attempting to purchase and manage a convenience store from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how easy it is for someone in these conditions to set up and manage a enterprise on the main street in public view. The individuals involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the operation, who stated that he could erase official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those employing unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to participate in uncovering these illegal activities [...] to say that they do not characterize Kurdish people," states one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and state they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify conflicts.

But the other reporter says that the illegal working "harms the entire Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist says he was anxious the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He explains this notably impressed him when he realized that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and flags could be seen at the rally, displaying "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been tracking online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish community and explain it has generated strong frustration for some. One social media post they observed said: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

A different called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered accusations that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our objective is to expose those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely troubled about the activities of such persons."

Most of those seeking refugee status state they are fleeing political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which offers meals, according to Home Office regulations.

"Realistically stating, this isn't sufficient to sustain a dignified lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being exploited and are essentially "compelled to labor in the illegal sector for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the government department said: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would generate an reason for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be processed with nearly a 33% requiring over a year, according to official figures from the end of March this year.

The reporter states being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite easy to achieve, but he told us he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They expended all of their money to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost everything."

Ali agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're prohibited to work - but additionally [you]