The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish men decided to operate secretly to reveal a organization behind illegal commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurds in the UK, they state.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was managing small shops, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to work, seeking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

They were successful to reveal how easy it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and manage a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, enabling to mislead the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those using illegal employees.

"I wanted to contribute in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not speak for us," says one reporter, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at threat.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the investigation could inflame conflicts.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was worried the reporting could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He explains this particularly struck him when he noticed that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating undercover. Banners and banners could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we want our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring online response to the investigation from inside the Kurdish community and say it has caused significant anger for some. One social media message they spotted said: "In what way can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also seen allegations that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely concerned about the activities of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which includes food, according to government guidance.

"Honestly stating, this isn't enough to maintain a acceptable existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he feels numerous are susceptible to being manipulated and are essentially "obligated to work in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would create an incentive for individuals to travel to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can take years to be decided with approximately a one-third requiring over one year, according to government figures from the late March this 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 not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he interviewed employed in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals used all of their money to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

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