Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish men consented to work covertly to uncover a organization behind unlawful main street establishments because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both resided lawfully in the UK for years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running small shops, hair salons and car washes across the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Prepared with secret cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, attempting to acquire and run a small shop from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how easy it is for someone in these circumstances to start and operate a business on the main street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the businesses in their names, helping to fool the authorities.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those using illegal workers.

"I aimed to contribute in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not characterize us," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the UK illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists recognize that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify tensions.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized labor "damages the entire Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali says he was concerned the reporting could be exploited by the extreme right.

He states this especially affected him when he discovered that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we want our nation back".

The reporters have both been monitoring online feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin community and report it has sparked intense outrage for certain individuals. One social media post they found said: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

One more urged their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to expose those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and extremely troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers meals, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically saying, this isn't enough to maintain a acceptable life," says the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from employment, he believes many are vulnerable to being exploited and are effectively "compelled to labor in the unofficial market for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the Home Office said: "We make no apology for denying refugee applicants the permission to work - doing so would create an incentive for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can require a long time to be decided with nearly a one-third requiring more than one year, according to government statistics from the end of March this current year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to accomplish, but he told the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals used all their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

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

"When [they] state you're prohibited to be employed - but also [you]