The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish individuals consented to operate secretly to expose a organization behind unlawful commercial establishments because the criminals are causing harm the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided lawfully in the UK for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was running mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services across the United Kingdom, and wanted to learn more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with secret cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, looking to acquire and run a small shop from which to trade illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how easy it is for someone in these conditions to set up and operate a business on the main street in plain sight. Those participating, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, helping to mislead the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly record one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate official fines of up to £60k imposed on those using unauthorized laborers.

"Personally wanted to play a role in exposing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they do not characterize Kurdish people," says Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory 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 acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are high in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the probe could inflame tensions.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist says he was concerned the coverage could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this particularly struck him when he realized that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and banners could be observed at the protest, showing "we demand our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been tracking online feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin community and say it has generated significant frustration for some. One social media comment they spotted read: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

A different called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman explains. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish identity and extremely concerned about the actions of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He explains he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which includes food, according to official guidance.

"Realistically speaking, this isn't sufficient to sustain a respectable life," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he believes numerous are open to being taken advantage of and are effectively "compelled to labor in the unofficial market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department stated: "We are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the right to work - granting this would establish an reason for individuals to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take a long time to be processed with approximately a third taking over one year, according to official statistics from the late March this year.

Saman says being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite straightforward to achieve, but he informed us he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he encountered employed in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals used all their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

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