Why We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to reveal a operation behind illegal commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both resided lawfully in the UK for many years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, hair salons and car washes throughout Britain, and sought to find out more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with secret cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, attempting to acquire and manage a convenience store from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to reveal how simple it is for someone in these situations to start and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their names, helping to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the heart of the operation, who stated that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to £60k faced those hiring illegal employees.

"Personally sought to participate in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not characterize our community," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the UK illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his safety was at risk.

The reporters acknowledge that tensions over illegal migration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish population" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, Ali mentions he was worried the publication could be seized upon by the far-right.

He says this particularly impressed him when he discovered that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Placards and banners could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and say it has sparked significant anger for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found read: "In what way can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also read accusations that they were informants for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our goal is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply troubled about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was processed.

Refugee applicants now are provided about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes meals, according to official guidance.

"Practically speaking, this isn't enough to sustain a dignified existence," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he thinks a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are practically "forced to labor in the black market for as little as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the government department commented: "The government are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would create an motivation for individuals to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can require a long time to be processed with almost a one-third taking over 12 months, according to official statistics from the late March this current year.

Saman states being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite simple to do, but he informed us he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all of their savings to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've lost all they had."

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

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