The Reasons We Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, attempting to acquire and manage a small shop from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for an individual in these conditions to set up and run a business on the main street in public view. Those participating, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, enabling to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also were able to discreetly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who stated that he could remove government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those hiring unauthorized employees.

"I wanted to play a role in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not speak for our community," says Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his life was at danger.

The investigators acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen conflicts.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "harms the whole Kurdish community" and he feels driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was anxious the reporting could be exploited by the extreme right.

He states this notably struck him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and banners could be observed at the rally, reading "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been observing social media feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish community and report it has caused intense anger for some. One social media comment they found said: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also read accusations that they were informants for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly troubled about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are fleeing political persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a organization that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He says he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Refugee applicants now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers food, according to government policies.

"Realistically stating, this isn't enough to support a respectable life," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from working, he feels many are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are essentially "compelled to labor in the black economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities commented: "The government do not apologize for denying refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - granting this would establish an incentive for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be processed with nearly a third requiring more than a year, according to government data from the spring this current year.

Saman says working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to achieve, 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 investigation seemed "confused", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals used all of their savings to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're not allowed to work - but additionally [you]