Why Our Team Went Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal High Street establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was managing convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and wanted to find out more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to work, attempting to buy and operate a convenience store from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how easy it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and manage a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. The individuals participating, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, helping to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly document one of those at the core of the operation, who claimed that he could remove government sanctions of up to £60,000 encountered those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"I aimed to play a role in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they don't represent our community," says one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the country illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his life was at risk.

The reporters recognize that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish population" and he feels compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was concerned the publication could be exploited by the radical right.

He says this especially struck him when he noticed that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be observed at the rally, showing "we want our country back".

The reporters have both been monitoring online response to the investigation from inside the Kurdish community and say it has generated strong outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found read: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

A different called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have compromised its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply concerned about the behavior of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a organization that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes food, according to official policies.

"Realistically stating, this is not enough to support a acceptable existence," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely restricted from employment, he believes numerous are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department commented: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to work - doing so would create an motivation for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can take years to be resolved with approximately a third requiring more than one year, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter states being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been very simple to do, but he explained to the team he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he interviewed working in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used their entire funds to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've sacrificed everything."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but also [you]