The Reasons We Went Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to work covertly to expose a organization behind illegal High Street enterprises because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided lawfully in the UK for many years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating convenience stores, barbershops and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and wanted to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, attempting to purchase and run a convenience store from which to sell illegal tobacco products and vapes.

They were able to reveal how easy it is for someone in these conditions to set up and operate a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, assisting to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60,000 faced those employing unauthorized employees.

"I wanted to play a role in revealing these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize our community," states Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his life was at threat.

The journalists admit that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was worried the reporting could be used by the extreme right.

He says this notably impressed him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Banners and flags could be seen at the protest, reading "we want our country returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has caused strong outrage for certain individuals. One social media post they spotted said: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

One more demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its image. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely concerned about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those applying for asylum state they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He states he had to live on under £20 a week while his refugee application was processed.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes meals, according to Home Office regulations.

"Practically stating, this isn't sufficient to sustain a dignified lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from working, he thinks a significant number are vulnerable to being manipulated and are essentially "obligated to work in the black sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office commented: "We make no apology for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - granting this would establish an motivation for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can take years to be decided with approximately a third requiring over one year, according to official data from the late March this current year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he told the team he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he encountered working in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals used their entire money to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]