Why Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals consented to work covertly to expose a organization behind illegal commercial establishments because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the UK for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across the United Kingdom, and wanted to find out more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, looking to acquire and manage a small shop from which to sell illegal tobacco products and vapes.

They were able to discover how simple it is for a person in these conditions to set up and operate a enterprise on the High Street in public view. The individuals participating, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, enabling to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly film one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to £60k imposed on those employing unauthorized laborers.

"Personally sought to participate in revealing these illegal practices [...] to declare that they don't represent us," explains Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at risk.

The journalists admit that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized working "harms the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he considers obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, Ali explains he was concerned the coverage could be used by the far-right.

He explains this particularly struck him when he discovered that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Signs and flags could be spotted at the protest, reading "we demand our nation back".

Both journalists have both been observing social media response to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish population and say it has caused strong frustration for some. One social media post they observed said: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

A different demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were informants for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to expose those who have compromised its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply concerned about the actions of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

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

Refugee applicants now get approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to official guidance.

"Honestly saying, this isn't adequate to sustain a respectable lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prohibited from employment, he thinks a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are effectively "compelled to work in the unofficial economy for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department stated: "The government do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would create an motivation for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can require years to be resolved with approximately a 33% requiring over 12 months, according to official statistics from the late March this year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to accomplish, but he explained to us he would never have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he encountered employed in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent all of their savings to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost everything."

The other reporter acknowledges that these people seemed hopeless.

"When [they] say you're not allowed to be employed - but also [you]