Why We Went Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish men agreed to go undercover to reveal 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 calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived lawfully in the UK for many years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was operating small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to work, seeking to purchase and operate a small shop from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how simple it is for an individual in these conditions to start and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. Those involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, helping to mislead the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also were able to covertly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could remove government sanctions of up to £60k imposed on those using illegal workers.

"I aimed to play a role in exposing these illegal practices [...] to declare that they don't represent our community," states one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the country illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at threat.

The journalists acknowledge that conflicts over illegal migration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali mentions he was worried the publication could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He says this especially struck him when he noticed that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Signs and flags could be observed at the rally, showing "we want our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and report it has caused significant frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook message they spotted read: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

Another demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen allegations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our goal is to reveal those who have harmed its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and extremely concerned about the behavior of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for refugee status state they are escaping political persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a charity that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for many years. He explains he had to live on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now get approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes food, according to government guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this is not enough to sustain a acceptable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from employment, he thinks many are open to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to labor in the illegal market for as little as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office stated: "We make no apology for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would create an reason for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can take years to be resolved with approximately a 33% taking more than one year, according to official data from the late March this current year.

The reporter states working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he told us he would not have done that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he encountered working in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all their savings to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed all they had."

Ali agrees that these people seemed desperate.

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