The Reasons We Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals decided to go undercover to reveal a organization behind unlawful commercial establishments because the criminals are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided legally in the UK for many years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish crime network was managing convenience stores, barbershops and car washes throughout Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was involved.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to be employed, attempting to acquire and run a convenience store from which to sell contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for someone in these circumstances to start and manage a business on the commercial area in public view. Those involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the businesses in their identities, helping to fool the officials.

Ali and Saman also managed to covertly document one of those at the centre of the organization, who stated that he could remove government fines of up to £60k imposed on those employing illegal laborers.

"I sought to play a role in revealing these illegal practices [...] to declare that they don't characterize our community," explains Saman, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his well-being was at threat.

The reporters recognize that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal working "harms the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he feels driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, Ali says he was anxious the reporting could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this particularly affected him when he discovered that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Signs and flags could be seen at the gathering, showing "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and explain it has caused significant anger for certain individuals. One Facebook post they spotted said: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

One more called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen allegations that they were informants for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our goal is to reveal those who have harmed its image. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply worried about the activities of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for refugee status claim they are fleeing political discrimination, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He says he had to survive on under £20 a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive about £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides food, according to official policies.

"Honestly stating, this isn't adequate to sustain a acceptable existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from employment, he feels a significant number are open to being exploited and are practically "compelled to work in the illegal sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the authorities stated: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - granting this would create an incentive for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can require multiple years to be resolved with approximately a third requiring more than one year, according to official statistics from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very simple to achieve, but he told the team he would not have done that.

However, he says that those he interviewed working in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended their entire savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to work - but simultaneously [you]