The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish individuals agreed to go undercover to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial businesses because the criminals are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running small shops, hair salons and car washes across the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with secret cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to work, seeking to purchase and run a small shop from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how easy it is for a person in these situations to start and operate a enterprise on the main street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their names, assisting to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly record one of those at the centre of the network, who stated that he could erase government penalties of up to £60,000 imposed on those employing illegal laborers.

"I wanted to play a role in uncovering these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize Kurdish people," says Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at danger.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish population" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist says he was anxious the reporting could be exploited by the radical right.

He explains this especially struck him when he noticed that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Placards and flags could be observed at the protest, displaying "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and explain it has caused significant outrage for certain individuals. One social media post they observed read: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter says. "Our goal is to uncover those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the activities of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides food, according to government policies.

"Honestly saying, this is not enough to sustain a dignified lifestyle," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from working, he believes many are susceptible to being exploited and are essentially "forced to labor in the unofficial market for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the authorities commented: "We are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would create an incentive for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be decided with approximately a 33% requiring more than one year, according to official data from the end of March this current year.

The reporter says being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very simple to do, but he explained to us he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered working in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended all of their savings to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these people seemed desperate.

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