Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background men decided to operate secretly to uncover a network behind unlawful main street establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was running mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of Britain, and sought to learn more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Equipped with covert cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to be employed, looking to buy and operate a convenience store from which to sell contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to set up and manage a business on the main street in plain sight. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly document one of those at the centre of the organization, who asserted that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60k encountered those employing illegal employees.

"Personally sought to contribute in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent our community," states one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at risk.

The journalists recognize that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been worried that the probe could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter states that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish population" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the extreme right.

He explains this particularly struck him when he realized that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing online feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has caused significant anger for certain individuals. One social media comment they found read: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

A different demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen allegations that they were spies for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish population," Saman states. "Our objective is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly troubled about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to live on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes food, according to official policies.

"Realistically speaking, this is not sufficient to maintain a dignified existence," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prohibited from employment, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being exploited and are effectively "forced to work in the illegal sector for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the authorities said: "The government do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the permission to be employed - doing so would generate an incentive for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can take a long time to be resolved with nearly a third taking over a year, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been very simple to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

However, he says that those he met laboring in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all their funds to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to work - but also [you]