Why We Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish men decided to go undercover to reveal a operation behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are damaging the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the UK for years.

The team found that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating convenience stores, hair salons and car washes across Britain, and wanted to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Armed with secret cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to distribute contraband cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to uncover how simple it is for someone in these conditions to start and run a commercial operation on the commercial area in public view. The individuals involved, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also were able to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could remove official penalties of up to £60k imposed on those hiring illegal employees.

"Personally wanted to contribute in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they do not represent us," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his safety was at risk.

The investigators recognize that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized working "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist says he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the radical right.

He says this especially affected him when he discovered that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the rally, reading "we demand our nation returned".

The reporters have both been observing online reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish population and report it has caused intense anger for some. One Facebook comment they spotted read: "How can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish community," one reporter explains. "Our goal is to reveal those who have harmed its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely concerned about the activities of such people."

Most of those seeking refugee status state they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, struggled for years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides meals, according to government policies.

"Realistically saying, this is not adequate to maintain a dignified existence," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from working, he feels many are open to being manipulated and are practically "obligated to labor in the illegal economy for as little as £3 per hour".

A official for the authorities said: "The government do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would create an reason for people to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be processed with approximately a 33% requiring over a year, according to government data from the late March this current year.

The reporter states working illegally in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to accomplish, but he told the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he met employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent their entire funds to come to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

The other reporter concurs that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but additionally [you]