The Reasons We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish men consented to work covertly to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are damaging the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Prepared with secret cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, seeking to purchase and run a small shop from which to trade contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to discover how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to set up and manage a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. The individuals participating, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, assisting to mislead the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly record one of those at the core of the operation, who claimed that he could eliminate official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those hiring illegal workers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they don't characterize our community," says one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his life was at threat.

The journalists admit that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify hostilities.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he feels driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was worried the coverage could be seized upon by the far-right.

He says this particularly impressed him when he noticed that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Placards and flags could be observed at the rally, showing "we want our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media response to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and say it has generated intense outrage for some. One Facebook comment they found stated: "In what way can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

One more urged their families in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman states. "Our goal is to uncover those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish identity and profoundly worried about the behavior of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status claim they are fleeing political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which provides meals, according to government policies.

"Honestly speaking, this is not enough to support a dignified existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from employment, he believes many are vulnerable to being exploited and are practically "forced to labor in the illegal market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department said: "The government are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the permission to work - granting this would generate an motivation for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be decided with almost a 33% requiring more than one year, according to official figures from the end of March this year.

Saman states being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely easy to accomplish, but he told the team he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

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