Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to uncover a operation behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the criminals are damaging the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived lawfully in the UK for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating mini-marts, barbershops and car washes across the UK, and sought to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, seeking to acquire and manage a convenience store from which to sell illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to discover how easy it is for an individual in these circumstances to establish and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to register the operations in their names, enabling to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly document one of those at the heart of the operation, who claimed that he could erase government fines of up to £60,000 encountered those employing illegal employees.

"I wanted to contribute in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not speak for us," says Saman, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a region that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his well-being was at danger.

The journalists recognize that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter states that the unauthorized working "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was concerned the coverage could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this particularly impressed him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Placards and banners could be spotted at the gathering, showing "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and explain it has sparked significant outrage for some. One social media comment they found stated: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

A different urged their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply concerned about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a organization that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He explains he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes food, according to official regulations.

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

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from employment, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "compelled to labor in the black sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the Home Office commented: "We make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would generate an reason for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee applications can require multiple years to be processed with almost a one-third taking more than 12 months, according to government data from the spring this current year.

The reporter states being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to do, but he told us he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he interviewed working in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

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

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

"If [they] state you're forbidden to work - but additionally [you]