Why We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish individuals decided to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the criminals are damaging the image of Kurds in the Britain, they explain.

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

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to work, looking to acquire and manage a small shop from which to trade contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for someone in these circumstances to establish and run a enterprise on the main street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly record one of those at the core of the network, who stated that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60,000 encountered those using unauthorized employees.

"I aimed to contribute in revealing these illegal operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not speak for our community," says Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his safety was at danger.

The reporters acknowledge that disagreements over illegal migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been concerned that the probe could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the illegal labor "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

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

He says this especially impressed him when he noticed that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be spotted at the protest, showing "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring online reaction to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin population and say it has sparked intense frustration for some. One social media comment they observed said: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

A different demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish community," Saman states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have compromised its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply concerned about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are escaping political discrimination, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He explains he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to official guidance.

"Realistically saying, this is not enough to maintain a dignified life," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he feels a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are essentially "forced to labor in the black sector for as low as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office stated: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to be employed - granting this would establish an motivation for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can require years to be resolved with almost a 33% taking more than 12 months, according to government statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter says being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very straightforward to achieve, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he encountered working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals expended their entire money to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed all they had."

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

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