Why We Went Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish men agreed to work covertly to expose a organization behind illegal commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was managing mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of Britain, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to work, attempting to buy and operate a small shop from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to start and operate a enterprise on the commercial area in plain sight. Those involved, we found, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, helping to deceive the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly film one of those at the heart of the organization, who stated that he could remove official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing unauthorized laborers.

"I wanted to play a role in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they don't characterize our community," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the country illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his life was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been worried that the probe could inflame hostilities.

But Ali states that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was concerned the publication could be exploited by the radical right.

He states this particularly affected him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the gathering, reading "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has caused strong outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook post they spotted stated: "How can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also seen accusations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly worried about the behavior of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum claim they are escaping political persecution, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He states he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now receive approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes food, according to government policies.

"Realistically saying, this isn't sufficient to sustain a dignified existence," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being exploited and are practically "forced to work in the illegal sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities commented: "We make no apology for denying refugee applicants the permission to be employed - doing so would establish an reason for people to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can take years to be decided with nearly a 33% taking over one year, according to official statistics from the end of March this current year.

Saman says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite simple to do, but he told the team he would never have participated in that.

However, he explains that those he met employed in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended their entire savings to travel to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've sacrificed everything."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but also [you]