The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to work covertly to expose a operation behind illegal High Street establishments because the lawbreakers are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both resided legally in the UK for years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was managing small shops, barbershops and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and wanted to find out more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, looking to purchase and manage a mini-mart from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how simple it is for someone in these conditions to start and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. Those involved, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, enabling to deceive the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly record one of those at the centre of the organization, who asserted that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60,000 imposed on those hiring unauthorized employees.

"I wanted to contribute in uncovering these illegal activities [...] to say that they do not characterize our community," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his life was at risk.

The journalists admit that tensions over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized working "damages the whole Kurdish population" and he believes driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, the journalist explains he was worried the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He says this especially impressed him when he noticed that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Placards and flags could be spotted at the gathering, reading "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and report it has generated intense frustration for certain individuals. One social media message they observed stated: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also encountered accusations that they were informants for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our goal is to uncover those who have compromised its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply troubled about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He says he had to live on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to government guidance.

"Realistically speaking, this isn't enough to sustain a respectable existence," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from employment, he believes a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to labor in the black market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department said: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would generate an motivation for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can require years to be processed with almost a 33% requiring over 12 months, according to official statistics from the late March this year.

Saman says working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very simple to achieve, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals used all their funds to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

The other reporter concurs that these people seemed desperate.

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