Why We Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background men agreed to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal main street establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they say.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived lawfully in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across the United Kingdom, and sought to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Armed with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to acquire and manage a convenience store from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to discover how easy it is for a person in these conditions to start and run a enterprise on the main street in public view. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, helping to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly film one of those at the centre of the network, who stated that he could remove government penalties of up to £60k encountered those employing unauthorized workers.

"Personally wanted to contribute in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they do not represent Kurdish people," states one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The journalists admit that disagreements over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and say they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish population" and he believes driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, Ali says he was concerned the publication could be used by the radical right.

He states this especially impressed him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity protest was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be seen at the gathering, reading "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has sparked strong frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they observed stated: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

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

They have also encountered allegations that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter says. "Our aim is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely worried about the actions of such people."

The majority of those seeking refugee status state they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to government guidance.

"Realistically saying, this isn't sufficient to maintain a respectable life," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from employment, he feels numerous are open to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to work in the unofficial economy for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department commented: "The government make no apology for denying refugee applicants the permission to work - granting this would generate an incentive for people to travel to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can require a long time to be resolved with nearly a third taking over a year, according to official figures from the late March this year.

Saman says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been very simple to achieve, but he told us he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met working in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all of their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but additionally [you]