Why We Went Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish individuals consented to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal main street businesses because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was managing mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was involved.

Armed with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, attempting to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how easy it is for an individual in these situations to establish and operate a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. Those involved, we found, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, helping to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly document one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate government fines of up to £60,000 faced those using illegal laborers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in exposing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they do not represent our community," explains Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman came to the UK illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his life was at risk.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the inquiry could intensify conflicts.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized employment "harms the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he believes driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali says he was anxious the reporting could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this especially struck him when he discovered that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Signs and flags could be seen at the protest, reading "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking online feedback to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin population and report it has sparked significant anger for some. One social media post they observed read: "In what way can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another called for their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were informants for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and profoundly troubled about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum say they are escaping political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to government policies.

"Realistically stating, this is not adequate to support a acceptable existence," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from working, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being exploited and are essentially "forced to work in the black market for as low as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office stated: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to work - granting this would generate an motivation for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can require years to be resolved with almost a 33% requiring over one year, according to official statistics from the end of March this year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he told the team he would not have done that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals expended their entire savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited all they had."

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

"When [they] say you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]