Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals agreed to go undercover to expose a network behind unlawful commercial businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived legally in the UK for many years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services the length of the UK, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, attempting to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to uncover how simple it is for an individual in these circumstances to start and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. Those participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their identities, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly document one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could erase government sanctions of up to £60k encountered those hiring unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to participate in exposing these illegal operations [...] to say that they do not speak for us," says Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his safety was at risk.

The investigators admit that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the inquiry could intensify conflicts.

But the other reporter states that the illegal employment "damages the whole Kurdish community" and he considers driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, the journalist says he was concerned the reporting could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this notably struck him when he discovered that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we want our country back".

The reporters have both been monitoring online feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and report it has caused significant anger for some. One Facebook message they observed read: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another urged their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also read allegations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish community," Saman explains. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and extremely troubled about the actions of such people."

The majority of those seeking refugee status say they are fleeing political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to official guidance.

"Realistically saying, this is not sufficient to maintain a dignified life," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from working, he thinks numerous are open to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to labor in the illegal sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department said: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to work - doing so would create an reason for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be processed with nearly a third taking more than one year, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

Saman states being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he informed us he would not have participated in that.

However, he states that those he interviewed working in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals used all their funds to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've lost all they had."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] declare you're not allowed to be employed - but also [you]