The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to work covertly to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived lawfully in the UK for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it worked and who was participating.

Equipped with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to work, seeking to acquire and operate a small shop from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how simple it is for someone in these conditions to set up and manage a business on the High Street in full view. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their names, enabling to mislead the officials.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly record one of those at the heart of the network, who stated that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60,000 faced those employing unauthorized workers.

"I sought to play a role in exposing these illegal practices [...] to say that they don't represent us," explains Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the country illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his safety was at threat.

The journalists recognize that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen hostilities.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal employment "damages the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he feels obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was worried the coverage could be used by the far-right.

He explains this especially struck him when he discovered that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Banners and banners could be seen at the protest, reading "we want our nation back".

Both journalists have both been observing social media feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and say it has sparked strong outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they observed read: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the British authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish community," one reporter states. "Our objective is to expose those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply worried about the actions of such people."

Most of those seeking refugee status claim they are fleeing political oppression, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which provides food, according to government guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this is not adequate to sustain a respectable existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from working, he feels many are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to work in the illegal market for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities commented: "The government are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the right to work - granting this would create an incentive for people to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can require multiple years to be processed with approximately a 33% taking over one year, according to government figures from the spring this year.

The reporter explains working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very easy to accomplish, but he explained to us he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost all they had."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] say you're not allowed to work - but also [you]