The Reasons We Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish men consented to go undercover to reveal a network behind illegal main street businesses because the criminals are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

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

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish crime network was running small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and sought to discover more about how it worked and who was involved.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, seeking to purchase and run a small shop from which to trade illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how easy it is for a person in these situations to set up and manage a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. The individuals involved, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, assisting to fool the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to secretly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who asserted that he could erase government penalties of up to £60k imposed on those hiring illegal employees.

"I sought to contribute in exposing these illegal operations [...] to declare that they do not characterize our community," states one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the country without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The investigators acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could intensify tensions.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he believes obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the far-right.

He explains this particularly impressed him when he realized that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and flags could be observed at the protest, displaying "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been tracking online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish community and say it has sparked intense anger for certain individuals. One social media post they observed said: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

A different demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly troubled about the actions of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum state they are fleeing political oppression, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He says he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes meals, according to Home Office policies.

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

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from working, he thinks numerous are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are essentially "obligated to labor in the illegal economy for as little as three pounds per hour".

A official for the government department said: "We do not apologize for denying refugee applicants the right to work - granting this would generate an reason for people to travel to the UK without authorization."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be resolved with approximately a 33% taking over one year, according to official statistics from the late March this year.

Saman states being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been very simple to achieve, but he told us he would not have done that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he interviewed working in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals used their entire funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] say you're not allowed to be employed - but also [you]