The Reasons We Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish men consented to work covertly to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

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

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of the UK, and wanted to find out more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Prepared with covert cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to work, seeking to buy and operate a convenience store from which to sell contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how simple it is for a person in these conditions to set up and operate a commercial operation on the High Street in full view. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, assisting to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could erase government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing illegal workers.

"I aimed to contribute in exposing these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent our community," explains one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at risk.

The investigators recognize that disagreements over illegal migration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the probe could worsen tensions.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized labor "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he believes obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali says he was concerned the publication could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this notably struck him when he discovered that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Banners and flags could be seen at the gathering, showing "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking online response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated strong outrage for some. One social media post they spotted read: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another demanded their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also read allegations that they were spies for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to uncover those who have damaged its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely concerned about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a organization that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to government regulations.

"Practically speaking, this isn't adequate to sustain a acceptable life," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he thinks numerous are susceptible to being exploited and are practically "obligated to labor in the black sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the authorities stated: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would generate an reason for people to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can take a long time to be resolved with nearly a one-third taking over one year, according to official statistics from the late March this year.

Saman explains working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite simple to achieve, but he informed the team he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals expended all their funds to come to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] state you're not allowed to work - but additionally [you]