Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals decided to work covertly to uncover a operation behind illegal commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are damaging the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was participating.

Equipped with secret cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to work, attempting to buy and manage a convenience store from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for someone in these situations to set up and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their identities, assisting to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also were able to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60,000 faced those using illegal workers.

"I sought to participate in exposing these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize our community," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the country illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a region that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his life was at threat.

The reporters admit that tensions over illegal migration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish population" and he considers obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, Ali says he was anxious the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He says this especially struck him when he realized that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Signs and banners could be seen at the gathering, displaying "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media reaction to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and report it has generated intense anger for some. One social media comment they observed said: "In what way can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also read claims that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our goal is to uncover those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly troubled about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to official regulations.

"Practically saying, this isn't sufficient to support a dignified life," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from working, he feels many are open to being exploited and are essentially "obligated to work in the illegal economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office said: "We make no apology for refusing to grant refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would generate an motivation for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can take a long time to be resolved with almost a one-third requiring over one year, according to official figures from the late March this year.

The reporter states being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite simple to do, but he informed us he would never have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he encountered employed in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all of their money to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost everything."

Ali concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] declare you're not allowed to be employed - but simultaneously [you]