Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to work covertly to reveal a operation behind unlawful main street establishments because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was operating mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of Britain, and wanted to find out more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with covert cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to work, looking to acquire and operate a mini-mart from which to trade contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to discover how straightforward it is for a person in these circumstances to establish and operate a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, enabling to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly film one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could erase government penalties of up to £60,000 encountered those employing unauthorized workers.

"Personally wanted to contribute in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to say that they do not speak for Kurdish people," explains Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The reporters recognize that tensions over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the investigation could worsen hostilities.

But the other reporter states that the illegal working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, Ali says he was worried the coverage could be exploited by the radical right.

He explains this notably impressed him when he discovered that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Banners and banners could be seen at the rally, showing "we demand our country returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media response to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and report it has caused intense outrage for certain individuals. One social media message they observed said: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

A different demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the British government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our aim is to reveal those who have damaged its image. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply worried about the behavior of such individuals."

Most of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He explains he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get about forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which includes food, according to government policies.

"Practically stating, this isn't enough to sustain a acceptable existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he believes many are susceptible to being exploited and are effectively "forced to labor in the illegal sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities said: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to be employed - granting this would create an incentive for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be resolved with almost a third taking over a year, according to official data from the end of March this year.

Saman says working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very easy to achieve, but he explained to us he would never have participated in that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed working in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all their funds to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to be employed - but additionally [you]