Why Our Team Went Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to operate secretly to expose a operation behind illegal main street enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating small shops, barbershops and car washes throughout Britain, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to work, attempting to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to sell illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for someone in these conditions to set up and manage a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. The individuals involved, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to register the businesses in their names, helping to deceive the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who asserted that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to £60,000 imposed on those using unauthorized workers.

"Personally sought to play a role in revealing these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not speak for us," says one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his life was at risk.

The journalists admit that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter states that the illegal labor "damages the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he considers driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was worried the coverage could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this notably impressed him when he noticed that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working undercover. Signs and banners could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and say it has sparked intense anger for some. One Facebook post they spotted stated: "In what way can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to expose those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply worried about the activities of such people."

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

This was the situation for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to Home Office regulations.

"Realistically saying, this isn't adequate to maintain a respectable existence," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prevented from employment, he feels many are susceptible to being exploited and are essentially "forced to work in the black sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the Home Office stated: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant refugee applicants the right to work - granting this would generate an incentive for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take multiple years to be resolved with almost a one-third taking more than one year, according to government statistics from the late March this year.

The reporter says being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very straightforward to achieve, but he told the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he interviewed working in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They expended all their money to travel 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] state you're prohibited to work - but additionally [you]