Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals agreed to operate secretly to reveal a organization behind unlawful main street businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they say.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived lawfully in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and wanted to discover more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Equipped with covert cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, seeking to acquire and manage a convenience store from which to sell illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how easy it is for someone in these situations to set up and run a enterprise on the commercial area in full view. Those involved, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, helping to mislead the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to covertly record one of those at the heart of the network, who claimed that he could erase government penalties of up to £60k encountered those using unauthorized laborers.

"I sought to play a role in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to say that they don't characterize us," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at threat.

The reporters admit that conflicts over illegal migration are significant in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the investigation could worsen hostilities.

But Ali explains that the illegal employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he believes driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist explains he was anxious the publication could be exploited by the far-right.

He explains this particularly impressed him when he noticed that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Placards and banners could be seen at the rally, reading "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has caused significant anger for some. One Facebook comment they found said: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish community," Saman states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have compromised its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely worried about the activities of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for many years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to government regulations.

"Honestly speaking, this is not enough to support a dignified lifestyle," states the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from working, he believes numerous are susceptible to being exploited and are practically "forced to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the authorities commented: "We do not apologize for denying refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would establish an reason for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can take multiple years to be decided with approximately a third taking more than one year, according to official data from the end of March this year.

Saman states working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very simple to achieve, but he informed us he would not have engaged in that.

However, he states that those he interviewed employed in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used their entire savings to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]