Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men decided to operate secretly to reveal a operation behind unlawful main street establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to learn more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to purchase and operate a small shop from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to start and operate a enterprise on the commercial area in plain sight. Those participating, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, helping to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to secretly document one of those at the centre of the organization, who claimed that he could remove government fines of up to £60k faced those employing unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to contribute in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to say that they do not characterize our community," states Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the country without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at threat.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over illegal migration are high in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the probe could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was anxious the publication could be exploited by the extreme right.

He states this particularly struck him when he realized that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the gathering, reading "we demand our country back".

The reporters have both been tracking social media reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and explain it has caused strong frustration for certain individuals. One social media message they observed read: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also read allegations that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter explains. "Our goal is to expose those who have compromised its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely concerned about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum state they are fleeing political discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a organization that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides food, according to government guidance.

"Realistically stating, this is not enough to sustain a dignified lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from employment, he feels many are open to being taken advantage of and are essentially "compelled to work in the unofficial economy for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the authorities commented: "The government make no apology for not granting asylum seekers the right to work - granting this would generate an motivation for people to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can take years to be resolved with approximately a one-third requiring more than one year, according to government figures from the spring this year.

Saman says being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would not have participated in that.

However, he says that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent all their funds to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

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