The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to go undercover to expose a network behind illegal commercial businesses because the wrongdoers are causing harm the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

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

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and sought to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Equipped with covert cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, looking to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how easy it is for someone in these conditions to start and run a enterprise on the High Street in full view. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the businesses in their identities, helping to fool the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly film one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those employing illegal laborers.

"I aimed to participate in exposing these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize us," says Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. The reporter came to the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and say they have both been anxious that the probe could worsen tensions.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized labor "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he believes compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali mentions he was concerned the reporting could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He explains this particularly struck him when he realized that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Banners and flags could be spotted at the protest, reading "we want our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and report it has caused intense outrage for certain individuals. One social media comment they observed said: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

One more urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish population," Saman says. "Our goal is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly concerned about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He explains he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Realistically stating, this is not enough to maintain a dignified life," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from working, he thinks many are open to being exploited and are essentially "obligated to work in the unofficial economy for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the government department said: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would generate an motivation for people to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can take years to be processed with nearly a one-third requiring over 12 months, according to government statistics from the end of March this current year.

Saman says working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to achieve, but he told the team he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he interviewed working in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "disoriented", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent their entire savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

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

"When [they] declare you're prohibited to work - but additionally [you]