Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish individuals decided to go undercover to reveal a organization behind illegal main street businesses because the criminals are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they state.

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

The team found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and aimed to learn more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, attempting to purchase and manage a small shop from which to sell contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to establish and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, assisting to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also were able to covertly film one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could erase official fines of up to £60,000 encountered those using illegal employees.

"Personally sought to contribute in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they don't speak for our community," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the country illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his well-being was at risk.

The investigators admit that disagreements over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could worsen hostilities.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, Ali explains he was worried the coverage could be used by the far-right.

He says this especially affected him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the gathering, reading "we demand our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish population and say it has sparked strong outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they observed stated: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read allegations that they were informants for the British authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to reveal those who have compromised its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply worried about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking refugee status say they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to government regulations.

"Realistically speaking, this is not adequate to maintain a dignified lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from working, he believes numerous are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are essentially "compelled to labor in the black economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department stated: "The government are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to work - doing so would establish an incentive for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can require multiple years to be resolved with nearly a 33% taking more than 12 months, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter states working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite simple to accomplish, but he told the team he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he encountered working in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", particularly those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

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

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] state you're forbidden to work - but additionally [you]