The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish individuals agreed to operate secretly to expose a organization behind unlawful High Street establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they say.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided legally in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to be employed, seeking to purchase and manage a convenience store from which to trade contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for someone in these situations to start and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their names, assisting to deceive the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly document one of those at the centre of the network, who asserted that he could erase government fines of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those hiring illegal laborers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to say that they do not characterize Kurdish people," states one reporter, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his safety was at danger.

The reporters admit that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the UK and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could inflame conflicts.

But Ali explains that the illegal working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he feels driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist says he was concerned the reporting could be exploited by the radical right.

He says this particularly affected him when he noticed that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and banners could be spotted at the protest, reading "we demand our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked strong frustration for some. One social media post they observed read: "How can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

A different called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also read claims that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and profoundly troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those seeking refugee status say they are fleeing political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to live on under £20 a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to government policies.

"Honestly stating, this is not sufficient to maintain a respectable existence," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from working, he believes many are open to being taken advantage of and are essentially "forced to work in the illegal market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities commented: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would establish an reason for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can take multiple years to be decided with approximately a third requiring over 12 months, according to government data from the spring this year.

The reporter says being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very simple to accomplish, but he informed the team he would not have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "lost", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent all of their money to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but additionally [you]