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

A pair of Kurdish-background men decided to operate secretly to expose a organization behind illegal main street enterprises because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing small shops, hair salons and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, attempting to buy and operate a small shop from which to trade contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these conditions to establish and run a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to deceive the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who asserted that he could erase official penalties of up to £60k faced those using illegal workers.

"I sought to participate in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they do not represent our community," explains Saman, a ex- asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The investigators admit that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the illegal working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he believes driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was concerned the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He states this especially struck him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Banners and banners could be seen at the gathering, reading "we demand our country returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online reaction to the investigation from inside the Kurdish community and explain it has sparked intense anger for some. One Facebook comment they found stated: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish-origin population," Saman explains. "Our goal is to uncover those who have compromised its image. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply concerned about the actions of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated 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 situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the UK, struggled for years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't enough to maintain a acceptable life," says the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from working, he believes many are susceptible to being exploited and are effectively "obligated to work in the illegal market for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department stated: "The government make no apology for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would create an reason for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take multiple years to be resolved with nearly a 33% taking more than 12 months, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter says being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he told the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he encountered employed in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all of their money to come to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but additionally [you]