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

A pair of Kurdish individuals agreed to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial establishments because the lawbreakers are damaging the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

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

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for a person in these circumstances to establish and operate a business on the commercial area in public view. The individuals participating, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, assisting to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the heart of the operation, who asserted that he could erase government fines of up to £60k faced those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"I aimed to contribute in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent Kurdish people," states Saman, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter entered the country illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his safety was at threat.

The journalists recognize that conflicts over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and say they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was anxious the publication could be used by the radical right.

He explains this especially struck him when he discovered that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Banners and flags could be seen at the rally, showing "we demand our country returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring online response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has generated significant outrage for some. One Facebook comment they spotted stated: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

A different urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read accusations that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter explains. "Our goal is to uncover those who have compromised its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply concerned about the behavior of such individuals."

Most of those applying for asylum claim they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He states he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

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

"Honestly stating, this isn't sufficient to support a dignified lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from working, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being exploited and are practically "obligated to work in the illegal economy for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office said: "We are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the permission to work - granting this would establish an incentive for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be processed with nearly a 33% requiring more than a year, according to government data from the end of March this year.

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

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met employed in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

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

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] declare you're prohibited to be employed - but also [you]