The Reasons We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals consented to go undercover to expose a organization behind illegal main street businesses because the wrongdoers are damaging the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided lawfully in the UK for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was managing mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of the UK, and sought to find out more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, seeking to acquire and run a small shop from which to distribute unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to discover how straightforward it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and operate a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, helping to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the centre of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate government fines of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing unauthorized laborers.

"Personally wanted to play a role in uncovering these unlawful practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't characterize Kurdish people," explains one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the probe could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal labor "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he believes obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist explains he was anxious the coverage could be used by the far-right.

He says this especially affected him when he discovered that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we want our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring online response to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish population and explain it has sparked significant anger for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they observed stated: "In what way can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another urged their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also read claims that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter states. "Our objective is to uncover those who have compromised its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly worried about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking asylum state they are escaping political discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a charity that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Practically stating, this is not adequate to support a respectable lifestyle," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prevented from employment, he feels many are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to work in the illegal economy for as little as £3 per hour".

A official for the Home Office commented: "We do not apologize for denying refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would establish an reason for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can take multiple years to be decided with almost a 33% taking more than one year, according to official figures from the end of March this year.

The reporter says being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been very simple to do, but he informed the team he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he met working in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used their entire money to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've forfeited all they had."

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

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to be employed - but simultaneously [you]