Why We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to reveal a organization behind illegal commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, barbershops and car washes across the UK, and aimed to learn more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Armed with secret cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to acquire and manage a convenience store from which to sell contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to reveal how simple it is for someone in these circumstances to start and run a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, enabling to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could erase official penalties of up to £60k imposed on those employing unauthorized laborers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in exposing these illegal operations [...] to say that they do not represent our community," says Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The investigators admit that disagreements over illegal migration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been anxious that the inquiry could intensify conflicts.

But Ali explains that the illegal working "damages the whole Kurdish population" and he believes compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was worried the coverage could be seized upon by the far-right.

He explains this particularly impressed him when he discovered that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Signs and banners could be observed at the protest, showing "we want our nation returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring online response to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and explain it has caused intense outrage for some. One Facebook post they observed read: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

One more urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish population," Saman states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its image. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the activities of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now get approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to government regulations.

"Realistically saying, this is not sufficient to support a dignified life," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from working, he believes many are vulnerable to being manipulated and are essentially "obligated to work in the illegal economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the Home Office said: "The government do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to work - granting this would generate an reason for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee applications can take multiple years to be resolved with almost a 33% requiring more than 12 months, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

Saman says working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite simple to accomplish, but he explained to us he would never have participated in that.

However, he says that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent all of their money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

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