The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to go undercover to uncover a organization behind unlawful commercial establishments because the criminals are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish reporters who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was running mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of the UK, and sought to learn more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to purchase and run a small shop from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for a person in these conditions to set up and manage a commercial operation on the High Street in full view. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to fool the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly record one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could remove government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those hiring illegal workers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they do not speak for our community," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his life was at risk.

The investigators acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But Ali states that the illegal employment "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was worried the coverage could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this especially struck him when he noticed that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity rally was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating undercover. Placards and banners could be observed at the gathering, showing "we want our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish community and say it has sparked significant anger for some. One Facebook post they spotted read: "How can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

One more urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered claims that they were spies for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and deeply worried about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing political persecution, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He states he had to live on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to official guidance.

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

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from employment, he feels many are susceptible to being manipulated and are essentially "forced to labor in the black economy for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office commented: "The government are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - doing so would establish an incentive for individuals to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can require multiple years to be resolved with nearly a third taking more than 12 months, according to government figures from the late March this current year.

The reporter states being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very easy to achieve, but he told the team he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all of their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've lost all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.

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