The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to go undercover to uncover a network behind illegal main street establishments because the wrongdoers are damaging the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating convenience stores, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, looking to purchase and run a mini-mart from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to discover how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to set up and manage a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. The individuals participating, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, enabling to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to £60,000 faced those using illegal employees.

"I aimed to participate in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to say that they don't represent us," says Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman came to the UK illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at threat.

The journalists recognize that conflicts over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen tensions.

But Ali states that the unauthorized working "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this especially impressed him when he noticed that radical right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and banners could be seen at the rally, reading "we want our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has caused intense anger for certain individuals. One social media post they spotted read: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman states. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply troubled about the activities of such people."

The majority of those applying for refugee status state they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for years. He explains he had to survive on under £20 a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now receive approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to Home Office regulations.

"Honestly stating, this is not sufficient to support a respectable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from working, he thinks numerous are open to being manipulated and are practically "obligated to labor in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the government department stated: "The government make no apology for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would establish an incentive for individuals to travel to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can require multiple years to be resolved with approximately a one-third taking more than 12 months, according to government data from the end of March this current year.

Saman says working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he told us he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he met laboring in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals expended all their money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost everything."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

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