Why We Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to operate secretly to uncover a network behind illegal commercial establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived legally in the UK for years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and sought to discover more about how it operated and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, attempting to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to trade illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how simple it is for someone in these situations to set up and operate a business on the commercial area in public view. The individuals involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their names, assisting to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to covertly film one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could remove official fines of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those using unauthorized employees.

"I wanted to participate in uncovering these unlawful practices [...] to say that they don't speak for Kurdish people," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - 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 threat.

The investigators recognize that tensions over illegal migration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the probe could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter states that the illegal working "damages the whole Kurdish population" and he considers obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be used by the far-right.

He says this notably affected him when he discovered that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating undercover. Banners and flags could be observed at the rally, reading "we want our nation back".

Both journalists have both been tracking social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and say it has sparked significant frustration for some. One social media message they found read: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

A different urged their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also read accusations that they were informants for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish identity and profoundly troubled about the behavior of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking refugee status say they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now get about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically speaking, this isn't adequate to support a acceptable existence," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from working, he believes numerous are open to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to labor in the unofficial market for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department stated: "We do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the permission to be employed - doing so would establish an reason for people to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be resolved with nearly a third taking more than one year, according to government figures from the spring this year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to achieve, but he explained to the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he encountered working in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent all their funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] say you're not allowed to work - but simultaneously [you]