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

Two Kurdish men consented to go undercover to uncover a operation behind illegal High Street businesses because the criminals are causing harm the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

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

The team found that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing small shops, barbershops and car washes across the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Armed with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to work, looking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to start and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, helping to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly record one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could remove official penalties of up to £60k encountered those employing illegal laborers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they don't characterize our community," explains Saman, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his safety was at risk.

The reporters acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish population" and he considers driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, Ali explains he was anxious the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He explains this especially affected him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Placards and banners could be spotted at the gathering, reading "we demand our nation back".

The reporters have both been observing online reaction to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated strong outrage for some. One social media post they found said: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

One more urged their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also read claims that they were spies for the British authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our aim is to expose those who have compromised its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly troubled about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those seeking refugee status state they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He explains he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now get approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Honestly stating, this isn't sufficient to support a respectable lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from employment, he believes many are vulnerable to being manipulated and are practically "forced to work in the black sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the government department stated: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would generate an reason for people to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee cases can take years to be resolved with approximately a 33% taking more than a year, according to official figures from the late March this year.

The reporter states working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to accomplish, but he informed the team he would not have participated in that.

However, he says that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all of their funds to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.

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