Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to operate secretly to uncover a operation behind unlawful main street establishments because the criminals are damaging the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was operating convenience stores, hair salons and car washes across the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to purchase and operate a mini-mart from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how simple it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. Those participating, we found, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to mislead the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly film one of those at the centre of the network, who claimed that he could remove official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those hiring unauthorized workers.

"I sought to participate in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize Kurdish people," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify tensions.

But the other reporter states that the illegal labor "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

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

He explains this notably affected him when he discovered that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be observed at the rally, reading "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and say it has generated strong outrage for certain individuals. One social media post they observed said: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

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

They have also seen accusations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish-origin community," Saman explains. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its image. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and extremely troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive about forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to government policies.

"Honestly stating, this is not enough to maintain a dignified existence," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from employment, he feels numerous are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to labor in the unofficial economy for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office commented: "We are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would establish an reason for people to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can take a long time to be decided with approximately a one-third taking more than one year, according to government data from the late March this current year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been extremely easy to do, but he explained to the team he would never have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he encountered laboring in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent their entire savings to travel to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

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