Why We Went Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish individuals consented to operate secretly to expose a operation behind unlawful commercial establishments because the wrongdoers are damaging the image of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish crime network was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes throughout the United Kingdom, and sought to find out more about how it worked and who was participating.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, attempting to acquire and manage a mini-mart from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how simple it is for a person in these situations to set up and operate a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their identities, assisting to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly document one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could erase government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those employing unauthorized workers.

"I aimed to play a role in exposing these illegal practices [...] to say that they don't characterize us," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at risk.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are high in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the inquiry could intensify conflicts.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "harms the entire Kurdish community" and he considers driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali mentions he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the far-right.

He states this especially struck him when he noticed that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was happening in London on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, reading "we want our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring online reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish population and explain it has generated significant anger for certain individuals. One social media message they found said: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another urged their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish community," Saman states. "Our goal is to expose those who have harmed its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and deeply troubled about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to official guidance.

"Practically stating, this is not adequate to support a dignified life," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from employment, he feels a significant number are vulnerable to being manipulated and are practically "compelled to work in the unofficial sector for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the authorities stated: "We do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would create an incentive for individuals to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be processed with nearly a 33% requiring more than one year, according to official figures from the late March this current year.

Saman says working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he told the team he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he met working in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent all their money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost everything."

Ali concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]