The Reasons We Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to operate secretly to reveal a organization behind unlawful commercial businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both resided legally in the UK for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and sought to find out more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, attempting to acquire and run a small shop from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to uncover how straightforward it is for a person in these circumstances to start and run a business on the commercial area in full view. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, helping to fool the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to secretly film one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those using unauthorized laborers.

"I sought to play a role in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to say that they don't characterize our community," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his life was at risk.

The investigators recognize that conflicts over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the probe could intensify hostilities.

But Ali states that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he feels compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was anxious the coverage could be used by the radical right.

He states this particularly affected him when he realized that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the protest, showing "we demand our country back".

The reporters have both been tracking social media response to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and explain it has caused intense outrage for certain individuals. One social media post they found said: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and deeply worried about the behavior of such people."

Most of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing political discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to Home Office policies.

"Honestly speaking, this is not adequate to maintain a respectable life," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from working, he thinks numerous are vulnerable to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to work in the illegal market for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department stated: "We make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - doing so would generate an motivation for individuals to come to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can require years to be processed with nearly a 33% taking more than one year, according to official data from the end of March this year.

The reporter states being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite simple to do, but he informed the team he would never have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he encountered employed in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all of their savings to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've sacrificed everything."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but additionally [you]