Why We Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals agreed to work covertly to uncover a organization behind illegal High Street businesses because the criminals are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and sought to find out more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Equipped with covert cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, seeking to purchase and operate a mini-mart from which to trade illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these circumstances to start and operate a enterprise on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, helping to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly record one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could remove official fines of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those employing illegal laborers.

"Personally aimed to participate in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to say that they do not speak for Kurdish people," states Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the country without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at threat.

The reporters recognize that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But Ali says that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he believes obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, Ali explains he was anxious the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He states this particularly affected him when he realized that extreme right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be seen at the gathering, showing "we demand our country returned".

The reporters have both been observing online response to the investigation from inside the Kurdish population and say it has sparked strong anger for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they spotted said: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

One more demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read claims that they were spies for the British government, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," Saman explains. "Our objective is to expose those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely concerned about the actions of such people."

Most of those applying for refugee status claim they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 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 shelter which includes food, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically speaking, this is not sufficient to sustain a acceptable existence," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from employment, he thinks many are open to being manipulated and are essentially "compelled to labor in the unofficial sector for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities said: "The government do not apologize for denying refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - granting this would create an reason for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be processed with almost a one-third requiring over one year, according to government figures from the late March this year.

Saman says being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite easy to do, but he informed the team he would not have participated in that.

However, he states that those he met working in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent all their money to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

The other reporter concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

"When [they] state you're forbidden to be employed - but simultaneously [you]