The Reasons We Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals consented to go undercover to uncover a operation behind unlawful High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was managing mini-marts, barbershops and car washes throughout the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, looking to buy and run a convenience store from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to start and operate a business on the main street in full view. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, assisting to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly record one of those at the heart of the organization, who asserted that he could remove government sanctions of up to £60k faced those hiring unauthorized employees.

"I aimed to contribute in exposing these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize our community," says one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. The reporter came to the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at threat.

The reporters acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the probe could worsen hostilities.

But Ali says that the illegal working "damages the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he believes compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was anxious the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He states this particularly affected him when he realized that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Placards and flags could be seen at the protest, showing "we want our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish community and say it has sparked strong frustration for certain individuals. One social media comment they observed stated: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

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

They have also encountered claims that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," Saman explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely troubled about the behavior of such individuals."

Most of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was considered.

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

"Practically stating, this is not enough to support a acceptable lifestyle," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prevented from working, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being exploited and are effectively "obligated to labor in the illegal market for as low as £3 per hour".

A representative for the Home Office commented: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to work - granting this would establish an reason for people to travel to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can take multiple years to be processed with nearly a one-third requiring over a year, according to official data from the end of March this year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he explained to the team he would never have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed working in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent their entire funds to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost their entire investment."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

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