Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish men decided to go undercover to reveal a organization behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the criminals are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to work, seeking to purchase and operate a small shop from which to sell contraband cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how easy it is for someone in these situations to set up and manage a business on the main street in public view. The individuals involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, assisting to deceive the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could erase government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those using illegal workers.

"Personally wanted to contribute in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they don't characterize Kurdish people," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his life was at risk.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame conflicts.

But Ali states that the unauthorized working "damages the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he considers obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

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

He states this particularly struck him when he realized that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the rally, reading "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has generated significant anger for some. One social media message they found read: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the British government, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its image. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and extremely troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to official policies.

"Honestly saying, this is not adequate to support a respectable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from employment, he feels many are open to being exploited and are essentially "obligated to work in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the government department commented: "We are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the right to work - doing so would establish an motivation for people to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum applications can require years to be resolved with nearly a one-third taking over a year, according to official data from the spring this year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very simple to accomplish, but he explained to us he would not have participated in that.

However, he explains that those he met employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

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

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but additionally [you]