The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals consented to work covertly to expose a organization behind unlawful main street establishments because the wrongdoers are damaging the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both resided lawfully in the UK for years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing mini-marts, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it worked and who was involved.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, seeking to purchase and manage a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to establish and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the operations in their names, assisting to fool the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could remove government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those employing unauthorized workers.

"Personally aimed to participate in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they don't characterize our community," says Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at risk.

The reporters admit that conflicts over illegal migration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But Ali states that the unauthorized employment "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist says he was concerned the reporting could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this especially affected him when he discovered that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Placards and flags could be seen at the gathering, showing "we want our country returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and say it has caused intense frustration for certain individuals. One social media comment they found stated: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

One more urged their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our aim is to expose those who have harmed its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply troubled about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those seeking refugee status claim they are fleeing political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Realistically stating, this is not adequate to maintain a acceptable life," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from working, he thinks many are susceptible to being manipulated and are essentially "forced to work in the illegal sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the authorities said: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - granting this would establish an incentive for people to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can take a long time to be processed with nearly a third taking over one year, according to government statistics from the end of March this current year.

The reporter states working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met working in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used all their savings to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to work - but simultaneously [you]