Why We Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish individuals agreed to operate secretly to expose a operation behind unlawful commercial establishments because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running small shops, hair salons and car washes across Britain, and sought to find out more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to work, looking to buy and manage a small shop from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to set up and run a commercial operation on the High Street in full view. The individuals participating, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could erase official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those employing unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to play a role in revealing these illegal operations [...] to declare that they do not speak for Kurdish people," states Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the country illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a region that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at danger.

The reporters recognize that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are high in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the probe could intensify conflicts.

But Ali explains that the illegal labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was worried the reporting could be seized upon by the far-right.

He explains this notably affected him when he realized that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Signs and banners could be observed at the protest, showing "we want our country returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin population and say it has sparked strong anger for certain individuals. One social media message they found stated: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

A different urged their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its image. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly worried about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to government regulations.

"Practically speaking, this is not enough to maintain a acceptable existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from working, he feels numerous are open to being exploited and are practically "forced to work in the black sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities said: "The government are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would establish an incentive for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be processed with almost a one-third requiring more than 12 months, according to government data from the late March this year.

The reporter states working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to accomplish, but he informed the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he interviewed employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals expended all of their money to come to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to work - but additionally [you]