Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish individuals consented to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind unlawful commercial establishments because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Prepared with secret cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to purchase and run a small shop from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to discover how straightforward it is for a person in these situations to establish and manage a commercial operation on the High Street in public view. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, helping to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly document one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60k faced those employing illegal laborers.

"I sought to participate in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they do not speak for our community," explains Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at threat.

The reporters recognize that tensions over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the illegal working "damages the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this particularly affected him when he noticed that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Placards and banners could be observed at the gathering, reading "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media response to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin community and report it has caused strong outrage for some. One social media message they observed read: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our goal is to reveal those who have damaged its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly worried about the actions of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, struggled for years. He says he had to survive on under £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to official regulations.

"Practically speaking, this is not sufficient to sustain a dignified lifestyle," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prohibited from employment, he thinks many are vulnerable to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to work in the illegal market for as little as three pounds per hour".

A official for the Home Office said: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - granting this would generate an incentive for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take a long time to be processed with almost a third taking more than one year, according to government statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter explains being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to accomplish, but he told the team he would never have done that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he encountered working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended all of their funds to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited all they had."

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

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