The Reasons We Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background men decided to operate secretly to reveal a operation behind illegal High Street establishments because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services across the UK, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was involved.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, attempting to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to trade contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and manage a business on the High Street in full view. The individuals involved, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, assisting to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly record one of those at the core of the organization, who asserted that he could remove government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those employing illegal workers.

"I sought to contribute in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to say that they don't characterize our community," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the country without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal labor "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was anxious the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He states this especially struck him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we want our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been tracking online reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has caused strong anger for some. One Facebook comment they found said: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

A different called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," Saman explains. "Our objective is to uncover those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and extremely concerned about the activities of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are fleeing political oppression, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which includes food, according to official regulations.

"Practically stating, this isn't enough to maintain a acceptable existence," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he believes many are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "obligated to labor in the illegal sector for as low as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office said: "We make no apology for denying asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - granting this would establish an reason for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can take years to be resolved with approximately a third taking over 12 months, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite easy to do, but he explained to us he would not have done that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he encountered laboring in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all of their funds to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost all they had."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but also [you]