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

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to go undercover to reveal a network behind unlawful main street enterprises because the wrongdoers are damaging the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both resided legally in the UK for a long time.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was managing small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and sought to learn more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to work, attempting to acquire and operate a mini-mart from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how simple it is for a person in these situations to set up and manage a business on the High Street in plain sight. Those participating, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the operations in their names, assisting to fool the authorities.

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

"I wanted to play a role in exposing these illegal activities [...] to say that they don't speak for us," states one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the country without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at threat.

The journalists recognize that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the inquiry could intensify hostilities.

But Ali explains that the illegal labor "harms the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist explains he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this especially affected him when he noticed that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Placards and banners could be observed at the rally, showing "we want our nation back".

Both journalists have both been tracking online reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and report it has generated strong frustration for some. One social media post they found read: "In what way can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also read allegations that they were informants for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to reveal those who have damaged its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply concerned about the behavior of such persons."

The majority of those seeking refugee status claim they are fleeing politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He says he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to Home Office regulations.

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

Because asylum seekers are largely prevented from employment, he believes many are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to labor in the black sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office commented: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to work - granting this would establish an reason for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be processed with approximately a third taking over 12 months, according to official data from the spring this year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very simple to accomplish, but he explained to us he would never have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he encountered working in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "disoriented", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent all of their money to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've lost all they had."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed desperate.

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