The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals decided to go undercover to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial establishments because the wrongdoers are causing harm the standing of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

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

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was managing mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and aimed to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, seeking to acquire and operate a mini-mart from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and operate a business on the main street in full view. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly record one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could remove official fines of up to £60,000 encountered those employing illegal workers.

"Personally wanted to play a role in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they do not speak for Kurdish people," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his safety was at risk.

The journalists admit that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the investigation could worsen conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he feels compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist explains he was anxious the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this notably impressed him when he discovered that extreme right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Placards and flags could be seen at the rally, displaying "we want our country returned".

The reporters have both been observing online feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked strong anger for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found stated: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

Another called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen allegations that they were agents for the British authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish community," Saman states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have compromised its image. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely concerned about the activities of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He says he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now receive about forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to government guidance.

"Realistically stating, this is not sufficient to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from employment, he feels numerous are open to being manipulated and are essentially "compelled to labor in the black market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities stated: "The government do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the permission to be employed - doing so would create an motivation for people to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can require years to be processed with nearly a one-third requiring over a year, according to government statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter states being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been extremely easy to accomplish, but he informed the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he interviewed working in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals expended their entire savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've sacrificed everything."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed desperate.

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