The Reasons We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background individuals consented to operate secretly to expose a network behind illegal main street enterprises because the criminals are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided lawfully in the UK for a long time.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, seeking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to reveal how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to set up and manage a enterprise on the main street in public view. Those involved, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, enabling to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60k imposed on those using unauthorized workers.

"I wanted to play a role in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to say that they do not speak for us," states Saman, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the country without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a state - because his life was at risk.

The reporters acknowledge that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the inquiry could intensify conflicts.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized employment "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he believes driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was concerned the publication could be used by the radical right.

He states this particularly affected him when he noticed that radical right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Placards and banners could be observed at the protest, showing "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring online reaction to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and say it has sparked significant outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they observed read: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

A different urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also read allegations that they were spies for the UK government, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our aim is to reveal those who have compromised its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply concerned about the activities of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political persecution, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, struggled for years. He explains he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to government guidance.

"Realistically saying, this isn't sufficient to support a acceptable existence," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he thinks many are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to work in the black economy for as low as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the authorities commented: "The government make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - doing so would establish an motivation for people to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can require multiple years to be resolved with nearly a one-third requiring more than one year, according to official data from the spring this year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very simple to do, but he informed us he would not have participated in that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"They spent all of their savings to travel to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost everything."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] declare you're not allowed to be employed - but also [you]