The Reasons We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish men consented to work covertly to expose a network behind illegal High Street businesses because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived lawfully in the UK for years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Armed with secret cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to work, looking to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to trade illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for an individual in these situations to establish and operate a business on the commercial area in full view. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the operations in their names, helping to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly record one of those at the core of the operation, who asserted that he could erase government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those hiring unauthorized workers.

"Personally aimed to participate in exposing these illegal operations [...] to declare that they don't speak for our community," explains one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the country illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The journalists admit that tensions over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he feels obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the far-right.

He explains this especially affected him when he realized that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Signs and flags could be seen at the gathering, reading "we want our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and report it has generated intense frustration for some. One social media post they found read: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also read claims that they were informants for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," Saman states. "Our goal is to reveal those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply troubled about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those seeking asylum state they are escaping political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

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

Refugee applicants now receive about forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers meals, according to government regulations.

"Practically stating, this is not enough to maintain a acceptable life," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from working, he thinks a significant number are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are effectively "obligated to labor in the unofficial market for as little as three pounds per hour".

A official for the authorities stated: "We make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - granting this would generate an incentive for individuals to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee cases can take years to be resolved with almost a one-third requiring more than one year, according to official data from the end of March this current year.

The reporter says working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite easy to do, but he informed us he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he interviewed employed in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They used all of their savings to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed everything."

The other reporter acknowledges that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but also [you]