The Reasons We Went Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals agreed to operate secretly to uncover a network behind unlawful commercial establishments because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, seeking to buy and manage a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how easy it is for an individual in these situations to establish and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. The individuals involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, helping to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly record one of those at the core of the operation, who asserted that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those using unauthorized employees.

"I aimed to contribute in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not represent us," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter entered the country illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his well-being was at threat.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized migration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been anxious that the inquiry could worsen hostilities.

But Ali says that the unauthorized working "damages the whole Kurdish community" and he considers obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was worried the coverage could be used by the extreme right.

He says this particularly struck him when he realized that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity march was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Placards and flags could be seen at the protest, displaying "we want our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media response to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin community and report it has sparked intense outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they observed stated: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those seeking refugee status state they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes food, according to government regulations.

"Practically saying, this isn't sufficient to support a acceptable existence," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he thinks a significant number are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "compelled to labor in the black economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office stated: "The government are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the authorization to work - granting this would generate an reason for individuals to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can require a long time to be resolved with approximately a third taking over one year, according to official data from the late March this year.

The reporter says being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to achieve, but he informed us he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals spent all their money to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] declare you're prohibited to work - but additionally [you]