Why We Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish individuals agreed to work covertly to reveal a network behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

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

The team found that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating small shops, barbershops and car washes across Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was participating.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to work, attempting to acquire and operate a small shop from which to distribute unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and operate a enterprise on the main street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the businesses in their identities, helping to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the network, who claimed that he could remove government fines of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those hiring illegal workers.

"I sought to participate in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent Kurdish people," explains Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at threat.

The reporters recognize that disagreements over illegal migration are high in the UK and state they have both been anxious that the probe could worsen hostilities.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized labor "damages the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist explains he was anxious the publication could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this especially affected him when he discovered that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, reading "we demand our country back".

Both journalists have both been tracking online feedback to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated strong frustration for some. One Facebook comment they spotted stated: "In what way can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

A different urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the British authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and deeply concerned about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status claim they are fleeing political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides meals, according to Home Office policies.

"Realistically saying, this is not adequate to sustain a respectable lifestyle," says the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from employment, he thinks a significant number are susceptible to being exploited and are effectively "obligated to labor in the unofficial market for as low as £3 per hour".

A representative for the Home Office stated: "The government are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would establish an reason for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can take years to be resolved with approximately a one-third requiring over 12 months, according to official data from the spring this year.

Saman explains working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very easy to achieve, but he informed the team he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They expended all their money to travel to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

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