The Reasons We Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals consented to go undercover to reveal a operation behind unlawful main street enterprises because the criminals are damaging the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish crime network was running small shops, barbershops and car washes across Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was participating.

Armed with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to purchase and manage a small shop from which to sell illegal cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to uncover how straightforward it is for a person in these situations to start and run a commercial operation on the main street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly record one of those at the heart of the operation, who asserted that he could erase government penalties of up to £60,000 faced those using unauthorized laborers.

"Personally aimed to participate in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they don't speak for us," states one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at danger.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized migration are significant in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But Ali explains that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he believes driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was anxious the coverage could be used by the radical right.

He says this especially impressed him when he realized that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Placards and flags could be observed at the protest, displaying "we want our country back".

The reporters have both been tracking online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and explain it has generated significant anger for some. One Facebook message they spotted stated: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

A different urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to reveal those who have damaged its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply troubled about the actions of such people."

Most of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He explains he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Practically speaking, this isn't sufficient to support a acceptable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from employment, he feels a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to work in the illegal economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department commented: "We make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would create an motivation for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be processed with approximately a one-third taking over one year, according to official figures from the late March this year.

The reporter states being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he told us he would never have engaged in that.

However, he states that those he met employed in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"They spent all their savings to come to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've sacrificed all they had."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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