The Reasons We Went Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish men agreed to go undercover to reveal a operation behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived lawfully in the UK for many years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services across the United Kingdom, and aimed to discover more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Prepared with secret cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, looking to acquire and manage a convenience store from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how easy it is for someone in these circumstances to set up and run a business on the main street in public view. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, helping to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly document one of those at the core of the operation, who asserted that he could erase government sanctions of up to £60k encountered those using illegal laborers.

"Personally aimed to participate in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to say that they do not speak for us," states Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at danger.

The investigators acknowledge that conflicts over illegal migration are high in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could worsen conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal employment "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was worried the publication could be used by the far-right.

He states this notably struck him when he discovered that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating undercover. Placards and flags could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we demand our country back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated significant anger for certain individuals. One social media post they spotted said: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our goal is to reveal those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply worried about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which offers food, according to Home Office guidance.

"Practically saying, this isn't enough to maintain a acceptable life," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prevented from employment, he feels many are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to work in the unofficial market for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the authorities said: "We do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would establish an reason for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take years to be decided with almost a one-third requiring more than one year, according to official data from the late March this year.

Saman explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite simple to accomplish, but he informed the team he would never have engaged in that.

However, he says that those he encountered working in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all of their money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've sacrificed all they had."

The other reporter concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

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