The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals consented to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind unlawful main street businesses because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and sought to find out more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to work, looking to purchase and manage a small shop from which to trade contraband cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how easy it is for an individual in these circumstances to start and manage a enterprise on the main street in public view. Those participating, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their names, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly film one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could erase official sanctions of up to £60k faced those hiring illegal workers.

"I aimed to participate in uncovering these illegal operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent our community," says Saman, a ex- asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his safety was at threat.

The investigators recognize that disagreements over illegal migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized labor "damages the whole Kurdish community" and he believes driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist says he was anxious the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He explains this notably impressed him when he discovered that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity march was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Placards and flags could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked strong outrage for certain individuals. One social media message they found read: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen accusations that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and deeply worried about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

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

"Practically saying, this isn't enough to support a dignified lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from working, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to labor in the black economy for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the authorities commented: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would create an incentive for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be resolved with approximately a 33% taking over one year, according to government data from the end of March this year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very easy to accomplish, but he told the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he interviewed working in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent all their money to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] declare you're prohibited to work - but additionally [you]