Why We Went Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to work covertly to uncover a operation behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

Investigators found that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to work, looking to buy and manage a mini-mart from which to sell illegal tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these circumstances to start and operate a business on the commercial area in public view. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, helping to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could remove official fines of up to £60k faced those employing unauthorized workers.

"Personally aimed to play a role in exposing these illegal activities [...] to say that they don't speak for our community," states Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a state - because his life was at risk.

The journalists recognize that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal labor "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali says he was concerned the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He says this notably struck him when he discovered that radical right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Placards and banners could be seen at the protest, displaying "we want our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and explain it has caused intense anger for some. One social media post they found said: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

One more demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to expose those who have harmed its image. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and deeply concerned about the activities of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political persecution, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to official policies.

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

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "compelled to labor in the illegal economy for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the authorities commented: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would generate an motivation for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can take years to be processed with almost a third requiring over a year, according to government data from the spring this year.

Saman explains being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to achieve, but he informed the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met working in illegal convenience stores during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used their entire money to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] state you're prohibited to work - but additionally [you]