The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals consented to go undercover to reveal a operation behind illegal main street establishments because the wrongdoers are damaging the image of Kurds in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish reporters who have both lived lawfully in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across the UK, and sought to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, attempting to acquire and manage a small shop from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how simple it is for someone in these situations to establish and operate a business on the commercial area in public view. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to register the operations in their names, helping to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60,000 imposed on those employing illegal employees.

"I wanted to participate in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to say that they don't speak for us," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his life was at risk.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and say they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But Ali explains that the illegal labor "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he feels obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be used by the far-right.

He explains this notably affected him when he noticed that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity protest was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Signs and banners could be observed at the protest, reading "we demand our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media response to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has sparked intense anger for some. One social media message they observed said: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

One more called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also read claims that they were agents for the British government, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish population," Saman explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly concerned about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those applying for asylum claim they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically saying, this isn't sufficient to support a respectable existence," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from working, he thinks numerous are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "forced to labor in the black sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office said: "The government do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the permission to work - doing so would create an motivation for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be decided with approximately a 33% requiring more than one year, according to government data from the spring this year.

The reporter says working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

However, he says that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all their funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

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