The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to work covertly to uncover a organization behind unlawful main street businesses because the wrongdoers are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating mini-marts, barbershops and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and wanted to find out more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Equipped with covert cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to be employed, seeking to buy and manage a convenience store from which to distribute unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to reveal how simple it is for someone in these circumstances to establish and operate a commercial operation on the commercial area in plain sight. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to mislead the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to covertly record one of those at the centre of the organization, who stated that he could remove official penalties of up to £60k imposed on those hiring illegal employees.

"I wanted to participate in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to say that they do not speak for our community," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his life was at danger.

The reporters recognize that tensions over illegal migration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was anxious the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He explains this notably affected him when he noticed that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Banners and banners could be observed at the protest, displaying "we want our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring online feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has caused significant anger for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found said: "How can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

A different called for their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen claims that they were informants for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter says. "Our aim is to uncover those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly worried about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum claim they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which provides food, according to official policies.

"Honestly stating, this isn't sufficient to maintain a acceptable life," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are practically "forced to labor in the unofficial economy for as low as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office said: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the permission to be employed - doing so would generate an reason for people to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can require years to be processed with approximately a one-third taking over a year, according to official statistics from the late March this current year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite easy to do, but he told us he would not have done that.

However, he states that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

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

Ali concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but also [you]