Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals decided to operate secretly to reveal a network behind unlawful commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are damaging the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they say.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided legally in the UK for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing small shops, barbershops and car washes the length of the UK, and aimed to learn more about how it worked and who was participating.

Equipped with secret cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, looking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to uncover how straightforward it is for someone in these conditions to set up and run a enterprise on the main street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their identities, assisting to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly record one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could remove government sanctions of up to £60k encountered those employing illegal laborers.

"I aimed to contribute in uncovering these illegal activities [...] to declare that they do not speak for us," says one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at threat.

The investigators admit that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen hostilities.

But Ali says that the unauthorized labor "harms the whole Kurdish population" and he considers driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was worried the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He explains this notably struck him when he noticed that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Signs and flags could be seen at the protest, showing "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked strong anger for some. One Facebook comment they observed read: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered accusations that they were agents for the UK government, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our goal is to uncover those who have damaged its image. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and extremely troubled about the activities of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to government regulations.

"Practically saying, this is not sufficient to sustain a respectable lifestyle," states the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from employment, he thinks many are susceptible to being exploited and are essentially "compelled to labor in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hour".

A official for the Home Office said: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would establish an reason for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum applications can require multiple years to be decided with approximately a third taking more than one year, according to official statistics from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely simple to do, but he explained to the team he would not have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They expended their entire money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to be employed - but simultaneously [you]