Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish men agreed to go undercover to reveal a organization behind unlawful High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived legally in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was managing mini-marts, barbershops and car washes throughout Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to purchase and manage a mini-mart from which to trade contraband cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to uncover how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to start and operate a commercial operation on the main street in plain sight. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, helping to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the network, who stated that he could remove government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those hiring illegal laborers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent us," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the country illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his safety was at threat.

The journalists admit that tensions over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could intensify tensions.

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

Additionally, Ali mentions he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the radical right.

He says this especially affected him when he realized that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Placards and banners could be observed at the gathering, displaying "we demand our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been observing social media feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish population and report it has sparked significant frustration for some. One Facebook comment they observed said: "In what way can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen allegations that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish community," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to expose those who have compromised its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish identity and profoundly concerned about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for many years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to official regulations.

"Honestly saying, this is not enough to support a respectable life," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he believes many are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to work in the unofficial market for as little as £3 per hour".

A official for the Home Office stated: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - granting this would generate an motivation for individuals to travel to the UK without authorization."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be decided with nearly a one-third requiring over 12 months, according to government statistics from the late March this year.

The reporter states working illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to accomplish, but he told the team he would not have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he met laboring in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent all of their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've lost their entire investment."

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

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