The Reasons We Went Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background men decided to operate secretly to reveal a network behind illegal main street businesses because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish reporters who have both lived legally in the UK for years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes throughout Britain, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with covert cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to work, attempting to purchase and manage a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to start and operate a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, enabling to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly film one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could erase government fines of up to £60,000 faced those using illegal laborers.

"I aimed to play a role in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not speak for our community," states one reporter, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at threat.

The investigators admit that conflicts over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal working "damages the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he believes compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was worried the reporting could be exploited by the extreme right.

He explains this especially struck him when he noticed that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity march was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we demand our nation back".

The reporters have both been tracking social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and say it has generated strong frustration for some. One Facebook comment they spotted said: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another urged their families in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our goal is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and deeply worried about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are fleeing political discrimination, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on under £20 a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to government regulations.

"Realistically stating, this isn't enough to support a acceptable existence," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prevented from employment, he thinks many are open to being exploited and are practically "obligated to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the government department stated: "We are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would establish an motivation for people to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can take years to be resolved with almost a third requiring over one year, according to official data from the late March this current year.

Saman explains working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been very straightforward to do, but he told the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he encountered working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", notably those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"They spent all their funds to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost everything."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed desperate.

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