Why We Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to reveal a organization behind illegal main street businesses because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

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

Investigators found that a Kurdish criminal operation was running mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services the length of Britain, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, seeking to buy and run a small shop from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to establish and manage a commercial operation on the High Street in full view. Those involved, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, assisting to deceive the officials.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly record one of those at the heart of the operation, who stated that he could eliminate official fines of up to £60,000 encountered those hiring illegal employees.

"I sought to participate in exposing these illegal operations [...] to declare that they don't represent our community," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a region that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at threat.

The reporters acknowledge that conflicts over unauthorized migration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the probe could intensify conflicts.

But Ali states that the unauthorized working "damages the whole Kurdish population" and he feels compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was worried the reporting could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He states this particularly impressed him when he realized that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity march was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Placards and banners could be spotted at the protest, showing "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has caused strong outrage for some. One Facebook comment they observed read: "How can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

A different demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered accusations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter says. "Our goal is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and profoundly worried about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those seeking asylum claim they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He explains he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was processed.

Refugee applicants now are provided about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides meals, according to government regulations.

"Realistically stating, this isn't sufficient to maintain a dignified lifestyle," says the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from working, he thinks numerous are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are practically "compelled to work in the unofficial market for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department commented: "The government do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the authorization to work - granting this would create an reason for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can take years to be processed with nearly a 33% requiring over a year, according to official figures from the end of March this year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very easy to achieve, but he explained to us he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he interviewed working in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They expended all of their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've sacrificed all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're not allowed to work - but simultaneously [you]