Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish individuals decided to go undercover to uncover a network behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the wrongdoers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both lived legally in the UK for many years.

The team found that a Kurdish criminal operation was running small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and sought to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, looking to purchase and operate a small shop from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to establish and manage a enterprise on the main street in full view. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the operations in their identities, enabling to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the core of the network, who stated that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those using unauthorized employees.

"Personally sought to play a role in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent us," states one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the country without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his safety was at threat.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are high in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could inflame conflicts.

But Ali explains that the illegal working "damages the entire Kurdish community" and he believes obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, Ali mentions he was anxious the reporting could be seized upon by the far-right.

He explains this especially affected him when he realized that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity protest was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be seen at the gathering, reading "we want our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking online feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and say it has caused significant frustration for certain individuals. One social media comment they found stated: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

Another demanded their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were informants for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially 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 approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which includes food, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically stating, this is not enough to support a acceptable lifestyle," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from employment, he thinks a significant number are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to labor in the illegal economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities stated: "We make no apology for denying refugee applicants the authorization to work - doing so would generate an motivation for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

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

Saman says being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very straightforward to do, but he explained to the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he met employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all of their money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed all they had."

Ali acknowledges that these people seemed hopeless.

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