Why We Went Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish men consented to operate secretly to uncover a operation behind illegal High Street businesses because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurds in the UK, they state.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided legally in the UK for years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and sought to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Equipped with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, attempting to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to trade contraband cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how simple it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and operate a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly record one of those at the heart of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those hiring illegal workers.

"I wanted to contribute in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to say that they don't represent our community," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at threat.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized migration are high in the UK and state they have both been worried that the probe could worsen conflicts.

But the other reporter says that the illegal employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was worried the coverage could be exploited by the far-right.

He says this especially affected him when he discovered that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Signs and flags could be seen at the rally, showing "we demand our country back".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and report it has caused significant frustration for some. One Facebook post they found read: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also read allegations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have damaged its image. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply troubled about the activities of such persons."

Most of those applying for refugee status state they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now receive approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which offers meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Practically speaking, this is not enough to support a acceptable existence," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from working, he feels a significant number are open to being exploited and are essentially "compelled to labor in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the government department commented: "The government are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the right to work - granting this would generate an motivation for people to travel to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can require years to be processed with approximately a third requiring over one year, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he informed the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met employed in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals spent all of their funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're prohibited to be employed - but simultaneously [you]