Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish men agreed to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided lawfully in the UK for a long time.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was managing mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was involved.

Prepared with covert cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, looking to buy and manage a convenience store from which to trade illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to reveal how simple it is for a person in these circumstances to set up and operate a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, assisting to mislead the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly record one of those at the core of the operation, who asserted that he could erase government sanctions of up to £60,000 faced those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"I wanted to contribute in exposing these illegal practices [...] to say that they do not speak for Kurdish people," explains one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the UK illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists admit that conflicts over illegal migration are high in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been concerned that the probe could inflame hostilities.

But Ali says that the illegal labor "damages the whole Kurdish community" and he considers driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, Ali explains he was concerned the publication could be used by the radical right.

He states this notably affected him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Placards and flags could be observed at the gathering, displaying "we want our country returned".

Both journalists have both been tracking online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and report it has generated intense anger for some. One social media comment they spotted read: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

One more urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the UK government, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely concerned about the actions of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to live on under £20 a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which includes food, according to official policies.

"Realistically stating, this isn't adequate to maintain a respectable existence," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from employment, he feels a significant number are vulnerable to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to work in the illegal sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities stated: "The government are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to work - granting this would create an incentive for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can take multiple years to be processed with almost a third taking more than a year, according to official statistics from the late March this current year.

The reporter states working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely simple to achieve, but he explained to us he would not have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed employed in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used all their money to come to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed everything."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're not allowed to work - but also [you]