The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background men agreed to work covertly to reveal a organization behind unlawful High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the UK for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to work, looking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to sell contraband cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how simple it is for someone in these conditions to set up and run a business on the commercial area in public view. Those involved, we found, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to discreetly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could remove government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those employing unauthorized workers.

"I wanted to contribute in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to declare that they do not represent Kurdish people," states Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the country without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The reporters admit that tensions over unauthorized migration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify conflicts.

But Ali says that the unauthorized employment "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he believes obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, Ali says he was concerned the reporting could be exploited by the far-right.

He says this especially struck him when he realized that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Placards and flags could be seen at the gathering, displaying "we want our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking online response to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin community and report it has caused intense outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they found said: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish community," Saman explains. "Our aim is to uncover those who have harmed its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and extremely worried about the behavior of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are escaping political discrimination, 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 covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

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

"Honestly speaking, this isn't enough to sustain a respectable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from employment, he feels a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are practically "obligated to work in the black sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to work - granting this would establish an incentive for individuals to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can require multiple years to be resolved with almost a third requiring over 12 months, according to official figures from the spring this current year.

The reporter says being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he told us he would never have engaged in that.

However, he explains that those he met working in unauthorized convenience stores during his investigation seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

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

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] declare you're not allowed to work - but additionally [you]