The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish men decided to work covertly to reveal a organization behind illegal High Street enterprises because the criminals are damaging the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they state.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing small shops, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Armed with covert cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to purchase and manage a small shop from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to uncover how simple it is for an individual in these situations to set up and operate a business on the High Street in full view. The individuals participating, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the businesses in their identities, enabling to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the organization, who claimed that he could remove government sanctions of up to £60,000 encountered those hiring illegal laborers.

"Personally sought to play a role in exposing these illegal activities [...] to say that they do not represent us," explains Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the UK without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and state they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized working "damages the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he feels obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali says he was worried the publication could be used by the radical right.

He says this notably affected him when he discovered that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be observed at the protest, displaying "we demand our country returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media response to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has generated significant anger for some. One Facebook post they observed stated: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

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

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish population," Saman states. "Our objective is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the actions of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum claim they are fleeing political persecution, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers food, according to government regulations.

"Realistically speaking, this isn't enough to support a acceptable existence," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from working, he feels many are vulnerable to being exploited and are practically "obligated to labor in the unofficial economy for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the permission to be employed - granting this would establish an incentive for individuals to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can require multiple years to be decided with approximately a 33% taking over one year, according to official statistics from the end of March this year.

Saman explains being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely simple to do, but he explained to us he would not have done that.

However, he says that those he encountered employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent their entire savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost all they had."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're forbidden to be employed - but also [you]