Why Our Team Went Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish individuals decided to work covertly to reveal a organization behind unlawful High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the UK, they say.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for years.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was operating small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to discover more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to work, seeking to purchase and operate a mini-mart from which to sell contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to discover how simple it is for someone in these conditions to set up and operate a enterprise on the High Street in public view. Those participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to register the operations in their names, assisting to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly record one of those at the heart of the organization, who claimed that he could erase government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those hiring illegal employees.

"Personally sought to play a role in uncovering these unlawful practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not speak for Kurdish people," says Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his safety was at risk.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and say they have both been worried that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized employment "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he believes compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was concerned the coverage could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this particularly struck him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Placards and flags could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we demand our country returned".

The reporters have both been observing social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and report it has generated strong frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they spotted said: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another urged their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter explains. "Our goal is to reveal those who have compromised its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and deeply concerned about the activities of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking asylum state they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, struggled for many years. He explains he had to live on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically stating, this is not enough to maintain a respectable life," says the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely prevented from employment, he feels many are open to being manipulated and are practically "compelled to work in the illegal sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "We make no apology for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would generate an incentive for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can take multiple years to be resolved with nearly a 33% taking over a year, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

Saman explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he informed the team he would not have engaged in that.

However, he states that those he interviewed employed in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended all their funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've sacrificed all they had."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to be employed - but additionally [you]