The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to go undercover to uncover a organization behind unlawful main street enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both lived legally in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was participating.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to work, attempting to buy and manage a convenience store from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how easy it is for a person in these situations to start and run a business on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly film one of those at the core of the operation, who stated that he could remove official fines of up to £60k faced those hiring unauthorized workers.

"I aimed to contribute in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent our community," states one reporter, a former refugee applicant personally. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his life was at risk.

The journalists admit that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized labor "damages the whole Kurdish population" and he feels obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was concerned the coverage could be seized upon by the far-right.

He explains this especially struck him when he noticed that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Banners and flags could be seen at the gathering, displaying "we want our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked significant frustration for some. One social media comment they observed read: "How can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

One more urged their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read claims that they were informants for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish community," Saman states. "Our objective is to expose those who have compromised its image. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely worried about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

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

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides food, according to government guidance.

"Realistically stating, this is not enough to maintain a respectable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from working, he feels many are vulnerable to being exploited and are essentially "obligated to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities commented: "The government do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can require multiple years to be resolved with nearly a one-third taking more than 12 months, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

Saman states being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to accomplish, but he informed us he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all their money to travel to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] say you're not allowed to be employed - but simultaneously [you]