The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals decided to work covertly to expose a network behind unlawful High Street businesses because the criminals are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they say.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and wanted to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Equipped with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, seeking to buy and manage a small shop from which to trade contraband cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to uncover how simple it is for someone in these situations to set up and run a enterprise on the main street in public view. The individuals involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the operations in their identities, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also were able to discreetly document one of those at the core of the organization, who asserted that he could erase government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"Personally aimed to play a role in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize us," says Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his life was at risk.

The journalists recognize that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could intensify tensions.

But Ali states that the unauthorized working "damages the whole Kurdish population" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was anxious the reporting could be used by the extreme right.

He states this especially struck him when he discovered that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Banners and flags could be spotted at the protest, showing "we want our nation back".

Both journalists have both been observing online feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish population and report it has sparked strong frustration for some. One Facebook comment they found stated: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more called for their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish-origin population," Saman explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have compromised its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply worried about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing political persecution, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive about forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which includes meals, according to government regulations.

"Practically stating, this is not adequate to sustain a dignified existence," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to work in the illegal economy for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office commented: "We make no apology for denying asylum seekers the right to work - granting this would create an motivation for people to come to the UK illegally."

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

The reporter explains being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite easy to do, but he explained to us he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met laboring in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They expended all of their savings to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've lost all they had."

Ali concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] declare you're prohibited to be employed - but simultaneously [you]