Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals consented to operate secretly to expose a organization behind illegal High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are causing harm the standing of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services the length of the United Kingdom, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, seeking to buy and operate a convenience store from which to distribute unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to reveal how easy it is for a person in these situations to set up and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. Those participating, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their names, helping to deceive the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to covertly document one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could erase government penalties of up to £60k faced those using illegal workers.

"I wanted to contribute in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to say that they don't represent us," says Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his well-being was at threat.

The reporters recognize that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen conflicts.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized employment "damages the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, Ali mentions he was anxious the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He states this particularly struck him when he realized that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be seen at the protest, showing "we demand our nation back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish population and say it has caused strong frustration for some. One social media comment they found said: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

One more called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen allegations that they were informants for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our objective is to uncover those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political discrimination, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now get approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which includes food, according to government regulations.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't enough to sustain a respectable life," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from employment, he believes many are open to being exploited and are essentially "forced to labor in the illegal sector for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the Home Office stated: "The government are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the permission to work - granting this would generate an reason for individuals to travel to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take a long time to be resolved with nearly a third requiring more than a year, according to government figures from the late March this current year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he told us he would never have engaged in that.

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

"They expended all of their funds to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed all they had."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed desperate.

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