The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals consented to operate secretly to uncover a network behind illegal commercial establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating convenience stores, barbershops and car washes throughout Britain, and sought to learn more about how it worked and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to work, attempting to buy and run a mini-mart from which to trade contraband cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to uncover how simple it is for an individual in these situations to start and run a commercial operation on the main street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, enabling to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly record one of those at the centre of the network, who asserted that he could remove government fines of up to £60,000 faced those employing unauthorized employees.

"I wanted to participate in uncovering these illegal activities [...] to declare that they do not represent Kurdish people," says one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the country illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his life was at risk.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over illegal migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could intensify conflicts.

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

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was anxious the reporting could be exploited by the far-right.

He explains this especially impressed him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working undercover. Signs and flags could be spotted at the rally, reading "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing online response to the investigation from inside the Kurdish population and explain it has sparked intense anger for certain individuals. One Facebook post they spotted stated: "How can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," Saman states. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly concerned about the actions of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum state they are fleeing political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

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

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which offers meals, according to official policies.

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

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from employment, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being manipulated and are practically "compelled to labor in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the government department stated: "We are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the permission to work - granting this would establish an motivation for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can require a long time to be decided with almost a third taking more than 12 months, according to government statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter explains working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very straightforward to achieve, but he explained to the team he would not have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he encountered working in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals expended all their money to travel to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to be employed - but simultaneously [you]