Why Our Team Went Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background men consented to go undercover to expose a organization behind illegal 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 Saman and Ali, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, attempting to buy and run a convenience store from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these circumstances to establish and manage a enterprise on the High Street in public view. Those participating, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their names, assisting to deceive the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly document one of those at the core of the operation, who asserted that he could erase official penalties of up to £60k imposed on those hiring illegal laborers.

"Personally sought to contribute in uncovering these illegal operations [...] to say that they do not characterize us," explains one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - 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 threat.

The reporters admit that disagreements over illegal migration are significant in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the probe could worsen hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was anxious the publication could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He states this particularly affected him when he discovered that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity march was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Placards and banners could be observed at the rally, showing "we demand our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been tracking social media feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and say it has caused significant outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found stated: "How can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to uncover those who have compromised its image. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and deeply worried about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are escaping political discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for years. He says he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to official guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this is not enough to support a acceptable lifestyle," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from working, he thinks a significant number are susceptible to being exploited and are practically "forced to labor in the black sector for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department stated: "We are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the permission to work - granting this would establish an motivation for individuals to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can take years to be resolved with nearly a one-third taking more than a year, according to government statistics from the spring this current year.

Saman explains being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite easy to achieve, but he informed the team he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he met working in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used all their savings to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] declare you're forbidden to work - but additionally [you]