Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background individuals decided to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal commercial businesses because the criminals are damaging the image of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was managing mini-marts, barbershops and car washes throughout the UK, and sought to learn more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, attempting to buy and run a convenience store from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how simple it is for a person in these situations to set up and run a business on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, assisting to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly document one of those at the centre of the network, who stated that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to £60k imposed on those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"I sought to participate in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent our community," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the country without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his well-being was at threat.

The reporters recognize that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify tensions.

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

Separately, Ali explains he was concerned the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He states this especially impressed him when he discovered that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Placards and flags could be observed at the protest, showing "we want our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and report it has generated intense outrage for certain individuals. One social media post they found said: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

A different demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also read accusations that they were informants for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish population," Saman states. "Our goal is to expose those who have compromised its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and profoundly worried about the behavior of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing political discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive about forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to government guidance.

"Realistically saying, this isn't sufficient to maintain a respectable life," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from working, he thinks many are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to work in the unofficial economy for as low as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the government department stated: "The government do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would create an motivation for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can take multiple years to be decided with almost a third taking more than a year, according to government statistics from the spring this year.

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

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered working in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent all their funds to travel to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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