The Reasons We Went Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals decided to operate secretly to expose a organization behind illegal High Street establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they state.

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

The team found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating small shops, barbershops and car washes the length of Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was participating.

Armed with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to work, attempting to purchase and manage a small shop from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to start and run a business on the main street in plain sight. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to secretly document one of those at the heart of the operation, who asserted that he could remove government fines of up to £60,000 imposed on those using unauthorized laborers.

"I sought to play a role in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to say that they do not characterize Kurdish people," explains Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the UK without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at danger.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are high in the UK and state they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he considers driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was concerned the publication could be used by the radical right.

He says this notably affected him when he noticed that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Placards and banners could be seen at the gathering, reading "we demand our nation back".

The reporters have both been monitoring online feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and say it has caused significant outrage for some. One Facebook message they observed said: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our aim is to expose those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and profoundly worried about the activities of such people."

Most of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for years. He says he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which includes food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Honestly saying, this is not enough to support a acceptable existence," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he thinks a significant number are vulnerable to being exploited and are practically "forced to work in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the government department commented: "The government make no apology for denying asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would generate an incentive for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can require a long time to be processed with nearly a third taking over 12 months, according to government data from the spring this year.

The reporter says working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite straightforward to accomplish, but he explained to us he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he interviewed employed in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent all their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've lost their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

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