Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background individuals decided to work covertly to expose a organization behind unlawful commercial establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

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

The team found that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, looking to buy and operate a convenience store from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

They were able to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to set up and manage a business on the High Street in full view. Those participating, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, enabling to mislead the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly film one of those at the core of the operation, who asserted that he could eliminate government fines of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those using illegal laborers.

"I sought to participate in uncovering these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they don't speak for us," says one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The reporters admit that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and state they have both been anxious that the probe could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter states that the illegal working "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he believes driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali says he was anxious the reporting could be used by the extreme right.

He states this especially struck him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Signs and flags could be observed at the protest, displaying "we want our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and explain it has caused significant anger for some. One social media comment they spotted stated: "How can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

One more called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were agents for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly worried about the behavior of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status claim they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for many years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes food, according to Home Office guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this is not enough to sustain a respectable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he feels a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are essentially "obligated to work in the unofficial economy for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the Home Office commented: "We make no apology for denying refugee applicants the permission to be employed - doing so would establish an reason for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be resolved with approximately a third requiring more than one year, according to government data from the late March this year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite easy to achieve, but he explained to the team he would not have done that.

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

"These individuals expended all their money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited all they had."

Ali acknowledges that these people seemed desperate.

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