The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to uncover a operation behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was running small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of the UK, and wanted to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to purchase and operate a small shop from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these situations to set up and operate a commercial operation on the main street in public view. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their identities, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60,000 imposed on those hiring unauthorized workers.

"Personally aimed to play a role in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent our community," says Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his life was at risk.

The investigators recognize that tensions over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been worried that the probe could intensify tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal working "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

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

He explains this notably affected him when he noticed that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be observed at the protest, reading "we want our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media response to the exposé from inside the Kurdish population and report it has generated intense frustration for some. One Facebook message they observed stated: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our aim is to expose those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly troubled about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those seeking refugee status state they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for many years. He states he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides food, according to government policies.

"Realistically speaking, this is not adequate to support a dignified existence," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from employment, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being manipulated and are practically "compelled to work in the illegal market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department commented: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would generate an reason for individuals to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can require years to be decided with almost a third requiring more than one year, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to achieve, but he told the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent all their funds to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited all they had."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're not allowed to be employed - but simultaneously [you]