The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to operate secretly to uncover a operation behind illegal commercial enterprises because the criminals are damaging the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of the UK, and wanted to learn more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, seeking to acquire and operate a convenience store from which to trade contraband tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to establish and manage a business on the main street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, enabling to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly document one of those at the core of the operation, who stated that he could remove government fines of up to £60k faced those hiring unauthorized employees.

"Personally sought to participate in exposing these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent our community," says Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the country without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his well-being was at danger.

The investigators admit that disagreements over illegal immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen hostilities.

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

Additionally, Ali says he was worried the coverage could be used by the extreme right.

He says this especially affected him when he noticed that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the protest, reading "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media response to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has caused intense anger for some. One social media comment they observed stated: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

Another called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and extremely troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a charity that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to official regulations.

"Practically speaking, this isn't adequate to maintain a dignified lifestyle," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from working, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being manipulated and are practically "obligated to work in the black economy for as low as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to work - doing so would establish an incentive for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can require multiple years to be decided with almost a third taking more than one year, according to official statistics from the late March this year.

Saman states working illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very simple to accomplish, but he informed the team he would not have done that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They used all their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost everything."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

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