Why We Went Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish men agreed to work covertly to expose a network behind illegal commercial enterprises because the criminals are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they say.

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

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of Britain, and aimed to find out more about how it worked and who was involved.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to work, looking to purchase and run a small shop from which to sell contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how easy it is for someone in these conditions to start and run a business on the commercial area in plain sight. Those involved, we found, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, assisting to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to secretly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who stated that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60k faced those employing unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to play a role in uncovering these unlawful practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't characterize us," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the UK illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at danger.

The reporters acknowledge that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could intensify tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal employment "damages the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali says he was anxious the coverage could be used by the extreme right.

He says this especially struck him when he noticed that radical right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and banners could be observed at the rally, showing "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking online response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish community and report it has caused intense anger for certain individuals. One social media comment they spotted said: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

A different demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were informants for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter explains. "Our goal is to uncover those who have compromised its image. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and profoundly troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers food, according to Home Office guidance.

"Honestly stating, this isn't adequate to maintain a dignified lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from employment, he feels numerous are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to labor in the illegal market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office said: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant refugee applicants the right to work - granting this would establish an reason for individuals to migrate to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can take a long time to be processed with nearly a 33% requiring over one year, according to official figures from the end of March this current year.

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

Nevertheless, he says that those he met employed in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent their entire savings to come to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've lost all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] declare you're prohibited to be employed - but additionally [you]