The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals agreed to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided lawfully in the UK for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was operating convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and wanted to find out more about how it worked and who was participating.

Armed with covert cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to work, looking to buy and manage a mini-mart from which to sell illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and run a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. Those involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who stated that he could remove official fines of up to £60k imposed on those employing unauthorized laborers.

"Personally aimed to participate in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't characterize our community," explains Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the country without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The investigators recognize that tensions over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the probe could inflame conflicts.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized labor "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he believes obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He says this particularly affected him when he discovered that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity march was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Placards and banners could be observed at the rally, showing "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media reaction to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin population and say it has caused intense outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they spotted stated: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

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

They have also read accusations that they were informants for the UK government, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our goal is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly concerned about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to official regulations.

"Practically saying, this isn't adequate to support a dignified life," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from employment, he feels many are vulnerable to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities stated: "The government are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would create an motivation for people to travel to the UK without authorization."

Refugee applications can take years to be processed with approximately a third requiring more than a year, according to government statistics from the end of March this year.

Saman says being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely simple to achieve, but he explained to the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met employed in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent all of their money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

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