The Reasons We Went Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a operation behind unlawful commercial businesses because the wrongdoers are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was running small shops, hair salons and car washes throughout the United Kingdom, and aimed to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to purchase and operate a convenience store from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to discover how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to start and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals participating, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, assisting to mislead the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly record one of those at the centre of the operation, who stated that he could remove official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those using unauthorized workers.

"Personally wanted to participate in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they don't characterize our community," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the country without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his safety was at danger.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over illegal migration are high in the UK and say they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter says that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish community" and he feels compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this notably affected him when he discovered that radical right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be seen at the rally, reading "we demand our nation back".

Both journalists have both been observing social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has caused significant frustration for some. One social media post they found said: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the UK government, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman states. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly concerned about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those applying for refugee status say they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He says he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was processed.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which offers food, according to Home Office guidance.

"Realistically saying, this isn't adequate to support a dignified lifestyle," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being exploited and are practically "forced to work in the black sector for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office stated: "We are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would create an reason for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be processed with approximately a third taking more than a year, according to official data from the spring this year.

The reporter states being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to achieve, but he explained to us he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he met laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

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

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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