Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal main street enterprises because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running mini-marts, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and sought to find out more about how it worked and who was participating.

Equipped with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to work, attempting to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for a person in these situations to set up and operate a business on the High Street in full view. The individuals participating, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the businesses in their identities, assisting to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly record one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could erase government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing illegal workers.

"I aimed to play a role in revealing these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they don't speak for us," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at danger.

The investigators recognize that conflicts over illegal migration are high in the UK and state they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But Ali says that the unauthorized employment "damages the whole Kurdish community" and he considers obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was concerned the reporting could be used by the far-right.

He says this notably affected him when he noticed that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Signs and flags could be seen at the gathering, displaying "we want our nation returned".

The reporters have both been observing online reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish population and report it has sparked strong frustration for some. One Facebook post they found stated: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

A different demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen allegations that they were informants for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely worried about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to live on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides food, according to Home Office policies.

"Realistically saying, this is not enough to support a respectable lifestyle," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from working, he feels many are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are essentially "obligated to labor in the unofficial market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the authorities commented: "The government make no apology for denying refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would generate an reason for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can take years to be decided with almost a 33% requiring over 12 months, according to official statistics from the late March this current year.

Saman says being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to accomplish, but he explained to us he would never have done that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he interviewed working in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"They spent their entire money to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed everything."

Ali acknowledges that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to work - but also [you]