Why Our Team Went Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal High Street enterprises because the wrongdoers are causing harm the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing convenience stores, barbershops and car washes across Britain, and sought to learn more about how it worked and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, seeking to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to sell illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how easy it is for a person in these conditions to start and operate a enterprise on the main street in public view. Those involved, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, helping to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly film one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60,000 imposed on those employing illegal employees.

"I aimed to participate in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not speak for our community," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at threat.

The investigators admit that disagreements over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But Ali states that the illegal employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, the journalist explains he was anxious the publication could be used by the far-right.

He states this particularly affected him when he realized that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Placards and flags could be observed at the protest, showing "we want our nation returned".

The reporters have both been tracking online feedback to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin community and report it has caused intense anger for some. One social media comment they observed said: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman explains. "Our objective is to uncover those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish identity and extremely concerned about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those seeking refugee status say they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Practically speaking, this isn't adequate to support a acceptable life," says the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are essentially "compelled to labor in the illegal market for as little as £3 per hour".

A official for the government department commented: "The government do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to work - granting this would create an incentive for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can require multiple years to be decided with approximately a third taking more than a year, according to official figures from the spring this year.

The reporter states being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been extremely easy to do, but he informed the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he encountered employed in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "disoriented", notably those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent all their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

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