The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to uncover a network behind unlawful commercial establishments because the criminals are damaging the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and wanted to learn more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, attempting to purchase and operate a small shop from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and run a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly record one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could remove official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those employing unauthorized laborers.

"Personally wanted to participate in exposing these illegal operations [...] to declare that they do not characterize Kurdish people," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But Ali says that the illegal employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was worried the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He states this especially impressed him when he realized that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working undercover. Placards and flags could be seen at the rally, displaying "we want our country returned".

The reporters have both been observing online reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has caused strong outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they found read: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

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

They have also encountered allegations that they were agents for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman states. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and extremely concerned about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those seeking refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes food, according to official policies.

"Honestly saying, this isn't enough to sustain a respectable life," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being manipulated and are essentially "compelled to labor in the unofficial sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office said: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the permission to work - doing so would generate an incentive for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can take years to be processed with nearly a third requiring more than a year, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter says being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he interviewed employed in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They expended their entire funds to come to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've sacrificed all they had."

Ali concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

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