The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals agreed to go undercover to uncover a network behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the criminals are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

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

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to work, looking to acquire and run a small shop from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and vapes.

They were able to reveal how easy it is for a person in these conditions to set up and operate a enterprise on the High Street in public view. Those participating, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, assisting to mislead the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly film one of those at the core of the network, who stated that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60,000 imposed on those using illegal employees.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they do not speak for us," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his well-being was at threat.

The journalists recognize that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the probe could inflame tensions.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be exploited by the extreme right.

He states this especially affected him when he realized that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Banners and flags could be observed at the protest, reading "we want our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked significant anger for some. One social media comment they observed read: "How can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish population," Saman explains. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly worried about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum claim they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for years. He says he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which provides food, according to Home Office policies.

"Honestly stating, this isn't adequate to sustain a dignified existence," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from employment, he thinks many are open to being exploited and are essentially "forced to work in the unofficial market for as low as £3 per hour".

A representative for the government department stated: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the permission to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee cases can require multiple years to be processed with approximately a one-third requiring over one year, according to government data from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite simple to achieve, but he told the team he would not have participated in that.

However, he states that those he met working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all of their money to come to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] state you're forbidden to be employed - but additionally [you]