The Reasons We Went Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals consented to go undercover to expose a operation behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was operating convenience stores, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and wanted to find out more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Armed with covert cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to be employed, looking to acquire and run a small shop from which to sell illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how simple it is for someone in these circumstances to set up and operate a business on the main street in full view. Those involved, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly record one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60k encountered those employing illegal laborers.

"I sought to contribute in exposing these illegal operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for Kurdish people," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter came to the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter says that the illegal employment "harms the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was worried the coverage could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this especially struck him when he discovered that radical right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be observed at the rally, displaying "we want our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media response to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and report it has caused strong anger for some. One Facebook message they found said: "How can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

One more urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered accusations that they were informants for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our objective is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely troubled about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those seeking refugee status say they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for many years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers meals, according to government policies.

"Realistically stating, this is not adequate to sustain a respectable existence," says the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from employment, he thinks many are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are essentially "forced to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office said: "The government do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the permission to work - doing so would establish an reason for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can take years to be resolved with approximately a 33% taking over a year, according to government figures from the spring this year.

The reporter says being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very simple to do, but he told the team he would not have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met employed in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals expended all their funds to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited all they had."

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

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