The Reasons We Went Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it worked and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, seeking to purchase and run a small shop from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to start and run a business on the main street in full view. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, assisting to mislead the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly film one of those at the core of the operation, who stated that he could remove government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing unauthorized workers.

"I aimed to contribute in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for our community," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The journalists recognize that tensions over unauthorized migration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the probe could intensify tensions.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "damages the whole Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be seized upon by the far-right.

He explains this particularly impressed him when he realized that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be observed at the gathering, reading "we demand our nation back".

The reporters have both been observing social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and report it has generated significant outrage for certain individuals. One social media message they found stated: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also seen allegations that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish population," Saman explains. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply worried about the actions of such persons."

Most of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to official guidance.

"Realistically stating, this isn't enough to sustain a acceptable life," states the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from working, he feels many are vulnerable to being exploited and are practically "obligated to work in the illegal economy for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities stated: "The government are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the right to work - doing so would generate an motivation for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can require multiple years to be decided with approximately a third requiring more than a year, according to government statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to do, but he informed us he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all their funds to come to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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