Why We Went Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish individuals consented to go undercover to expose a operation behind illegal commercial businesses because the criminals are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided legally in the UK for many years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was running small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and sought to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, seeking to buy and run a convenience store from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to start and run a business on the High Street in full view. Those involved, we found, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to register the operations in their names, helping to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly document one of those at the core of the operation, who stated that he could remove government sanctions of up to £60,000 imposed on those employing illegal workers.

"I wanted to contribute in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't characterize us," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his life was at danger.

The journalists admit that disagreements over unauthorized migration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been worried that the inquiry could intensify tensions.

But Ali states that the unauthorized labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he considers driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was worried the publication could be used by the far-right.

He states this especially struck him when he discovered that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and banners could be seen at the rally, displaying "we want our country back".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and report it has caused significant outrage for certain individuals. One social media post they observed stated: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another urged their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen allegations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply troubled about the behavior of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, struggled for years. He states he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now receive about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Practically saying, this is not adequate to maintain a respectable lifestyle," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from employment, he believes a significant number are open to being exploited and are essentially "compelled to work in the illegal sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the authorities said: "We do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the permission to work - granting this would establish an reason for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can require years to be processed with nearly a third taking over a year, according to government figures from the spring this year.

Saman explains working illegally in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he told us he would never have done that.

However, he states that those he interviewed working in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "disoriented", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"They spent all of their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost all they had."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] say you're not allowed to work - but also [you]