The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals decided to work covertly to reveal a organization behind illegal High Street enterprises because the wrongdoers are causing harm the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating mini-marts, hair salons and car washes across the UK, and wanted to find out more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Armed with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to work, attempting to buy and operate a small shop from which to trade illegal cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to uncover how straightforward it is for someone in these conditions to set up and manage a business on the High Street in public view. Those participating, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, assisting to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly record one of those at the centre of the organization, who stated that he could eliminate official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those hiring illegal laborers.

"Personally sought to contribute in revealing these illegal activities [...] to say that they do not represent us," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the country illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at danger.

The reporters acknowledge that conflicts over illegal migration are high in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the probe could inflame conflicts.

But Ali says that the unauthorized working "harms the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he feels driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist explains he was worried the coverage could be exploited by the radical right.

He says this particularly impressed him when he noticed that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Placards and flags could be observed at the protest, showing "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin population and report it has sparked intense frustration for certain individuals. One social media message they observed stated: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," Saman says. "Our goal is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely worried about the activities of such people."

The majority of those applying for refugee status state they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which includes food, according to government regulations.

"Practically speaking, this is not adequate to support a respectable lifestyle," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he thinks many are susceptible to being manipulated and are essentially "forced to work in the black economy for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the Home Office said: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would create an reason for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can require a long time to be processed with almost a third taking over 12 months, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

Saman explains being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very simple to do, but he explained to the team he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used their entire funds to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to work - but simultaneously [you]