Why We Went Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish individuals decided to operate secretly to expose a operation behind illegal High Street businesses because the criminals are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they explain.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, attempting to acquire and operate a convenience store from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to reveal how easy it is for a person in these conditions to establish and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, enabling to mislead the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also were able to covertly document one of those at the heart of the organization, who claimed that he could erase official fines of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those employing illegal employees.

"I aimed to play a role in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they don't represent our community," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his safety was at risk.

The investigators acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been anxious that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter states that the illegal employment "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this notably struck him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Signs and flags could be seen at the gathering, reading "we want our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media response to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish population and explain it has caused intense outrage for some. One Facebook comment they observed said: "How can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the British authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish population," Saman states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its image. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly troubled about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to government guidance.

"Realistically speaking, this is not sufficient to sustain a respectable existence," states the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from employment, he thinks many are vulnerable to being exploited and are essentially "forced to labor in the black sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the government department said: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would create an motivation for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be resolved with nearly a one-third taking over 12 months, according to government data from the late March this year.

Saman explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been very simple to achieve, but he explained to us he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he encountered employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used their entire funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali acknowledges that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but additionally [you]