Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind unlawful main street establishments because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the UK for years.

The team found that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and wanted to find out more about how it worked and who was participating.

Armed with covert cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, attempting to purchase and run a small shop from which to sell illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to uncover how straightforward it is for someone in these conditions to establish and manage a commercial operation on the main street in full view. Those involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the businesses in their names, assisting to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the operation, who stated that he could remove official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those employing illegal laborers.

"I wanted to play a role in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they do not represent us," explains Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The investigators admit that conflicts over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized labor "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he feels compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was worried the publication could be used by the far-right.

He says this especially impressed him when he realized that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working undercover. Signs and banners could be observed at the rally, displaying "we want our nation back".

The reporters have both been observing social media reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish population and report it has generated significant outrage for some. One Facebook message they spotted read: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the British government, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our aim is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply worried about the actions of such people."

The majority of those seeking refugee status state they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which offers food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Practically speaking, this is not enough to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from employment, he thinks many are open to being manipulated and are essentially "compelled to work in the black market for as little as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office commented: "The government make no apology for not granting asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would generate an reason for people to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can require a long time to be decided with nearly a 33% taking over a year, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter explains being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very easy to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all of their money to travel to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've sacrificed all they had."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] state you're not allowed to work - but also [you]