The Reasons We Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background men consented to go undercover to expose a operation behind illegal main street establishments because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running mini-marts, barbershops and car washes throughout the United Kingdom, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was involved.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to purchase and manage a small shop from which to trade illegal cigarettes and vapes.

They were successful to discover how straightforward it is for a person in these situations to set up and run a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, enabling to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly record one of those at the centre of the operation, who stated that he could remove government fines of up to £60,000 faced those using unauthorized employees.

"I aimed to participate in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent us," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at threat.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and state they have both been anxious that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But Ali states that the illegal labor "harms the entire Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was concerned the publication could be used by the radical right.

He states this especially affected him when he discovered that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the protest, showing "we demand our country returned".

Both journalists have both been tracking online feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and say it has generated significant frustration for some. One social media comment they found read: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

One more called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered accusations that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," Saman says. "Our objective is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely troubled about the behavior of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are fleeing political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers meals, according to Home Office policies.

"Realistically saying, this isn't adequate to sustain a acceptable life," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from working, he thinks many are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to labor in the black economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities stated: "The government do not apologize for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would establish an incentive for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can require multiple years to be processed with nearly a one-third taking over one year, according to government statistics from the end of March this year.

The reporter says being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent all their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] say you're prohibited to be employed - but simultaneously [you]