Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish men consented to work covertly to expose a network behind unlawful High Street establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

The team found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services the length of the UK, and wanted to find out more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, seeking to purchase and manage a convenience store from which to sell contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to start and operate a business on the main street in plain sight. Those participating, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, helping to deceive the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly record one of those at the centre of the network, who claimed that he could erase official penalties of up to £60,000 faced those using unauthorized workers.

"Personally wanted to participate in uncovering these illegal activities [...] to declare that they do not speak for us," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his safety was at threat.

The investigators admit that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was concerned the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He explains this especially affected him when he discovered that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity protest was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Signs and flags could be seen at the gathering, displaying "we demand our nation back".

The reporters have both been observing online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has generated strong outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they observed stated: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also read allegations that they were informants for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish-origin community," Saman states. "Our aim is to expose those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the actions of such persons."

Most of those applying for refugee status claim they are fleeing political oppression, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He explains he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to government policies.

"Practically saying, this isn't adequate to sustain a acceptable lifestyle," states the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from employment, he feels numerous are open to being taken advantage of and are essentially "compelled to work in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hour".

A official for the government department said: "We are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would generate an reason for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can require years to be processed with almost a one-third requiring more than one year, according to government data from the end of March this year.

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

Nonetheless, he explains that those he interviewed working in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used all of their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've sacrificed all they had."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed desperate.

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