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

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to operate secretly to reveal a network behind illegal High Street enterprises because the criminals are damaging the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided lawfully in the UK for years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and sought to learn more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Armed with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to buy and manage a convenience store from which to sell contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. Those involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the operations in their identities, assisting to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly record one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate official fines of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those employing illegal employees.

"I aimed to participate in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to say that they don't characterize Kurdish people," states Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists admit that tensions over illegal migration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been anxious that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter states that the illegal working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he considers driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, Ali mentions he was concerned the coverage could be used by the radical right.

He states this notably struck him when he noticed that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, displaying "we demand our country back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish community and say it has generated significant outrage for some. One social media comment they spotted stated: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

A different called for their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also read claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to expose those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely concerned about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum say they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He explains he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides meals, according to official guidance.

"Realistically speaking, this is not adequate to maintain a respectable existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he feels numerous are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to work in the black economy for as little as three pounds per hour".

A official for the government department stated: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would create an motivation for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be resolved with almost a third requiring over 12 months, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter states working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to achieve, but he told us he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended their entire funds to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

"When [they] declare you're forbidden to work - but additionally [you]