Why We Went Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a network behind illegal commercial businesses because the wrongdoers are damaging the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running small shops, hair salons and car washes throughout the United Kingdom, and aimed to learn more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to acquire and operate a small shop from which to distribute contraband cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to uncover how simple it is for a person in these situations to set up and manage a business on the High Street in plain sight. Those participating, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, assisting to fool the officials.

Ali and Saman also were able to discreetly document one of those at the heart of the network, who stated that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60k imposed on those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"Personally wanted to contribute in revealing these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent us," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his safety was at risk.

The reporters acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal labor "harms the entire Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, the journalist explains he was concerned the coverage could be used by the extreme right.

He explains this particularly affected him when he noticed that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Banners and banners could be spotted at the rally, reading "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing online feedback to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin community and report it has generated strong frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook post they spotted read: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

A different called for their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also read allegations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have damaged its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply worried about the behavior of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking asylum state they are escaping political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He states he had to live on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now receive approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Honestly stating, this isn't adequate to support a acceptable life," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he feels a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to work in the unofficial economy for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office said: "We make no apology for denying asylum seekers the permission to work - doing so would generate an reason for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can require a long time to be decided with nearly a 33% requiring over a year, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to accomplish, but he told us he would never have done that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he encountered employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended their entire money to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost all they had."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

"When [they] say you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]