Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish men consented to operate secretly to reveal a operation behind unlawful High Street establishments because the criminals are damaging the standing of Kurds in the UK, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived legally in the UK for many years.

The team found that a Kurdish crime network was running small shops, barbershops and car washes throughout Britain, and sought to discover more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, looking to purchase and run a mini-mart from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these circumstances to establish and operate a business on the High Street in public view. The individuals participating, we found, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to mislead the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly record one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could remove government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those hiring unauthorized employees.

"I wanted to contribute in exposing these illegal operations [...] to declare that they do not speak for us," states Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that covers 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 conflicts over illegal migration are high in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the inquiry could intensify tensions.

But the other reporter states that the illegal labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he considers obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was worried the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He states this notably affected him when he discovered that radical right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, displaying "we want our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish community and explain it has generated intense anger for certain individuals. One Facebook message they found read: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another urged their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman says. "Our goal is to uncover those who have harmed its image. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and extremely troubled about the behavior of such individuals."

Most of those applying for refugee status state they are fleeing politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which offers food, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically saying, this isn't adequate to support a dignified life," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from working, he thinks a significant number are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to labor in the unofficial sector for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the authorities said: "We do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would generate an motivation for people to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can require years to be processed with almost a one-third taking over one year, according to government statistics from the end of March this current year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to achieve, but he told us he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent all their funds to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

"When [they] declare you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]