Why Our Team Went Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to operate secretly to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish crime network was operating small shops, barbershops and car washes the length of Britain, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was participating.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to be employed, attempting to buy and manage a convenience store from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how straightforward it is for a person in these circumstances to set up and run a business on the main street in public view. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to fool the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly film one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could erase government penalties of up to £60k faced those employing illegal workers.

"I wanted to participate in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for our community," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the UK illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over illegal migration are high in the UK and say they have both been worried that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he feels obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was anxious the reporting could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He states this particularly impressed him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity march was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Placards and flags could be observed at the rally, displaying "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been observing social media feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked significant outrage for some. One social media post they spotted stated: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

Another urged their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish population," Saman states. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly concerned about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking refugee status claim they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers food, according to official guidance.

"Realistically stating, this isn't sufficient to maintain a acceptable life," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from employment, he thinks a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are practically "compelled to work in the unofficial market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department commented: "We do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would establish an motivation for people to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can take multiple years to be resolved with almost a third requiring over a year, according to official statistics from the late March this current year.

Saman says working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been very easy to achieve, but he told the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he met employed in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used their entire savings to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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