The Reasons We Went Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish individuals consented to go undercover to uncover a network behind illegal commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and wanted to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to work, looking to purchase and operate a small shop from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to reveal how easy it is for a person in these circumstances to start and operate a commercial operation on the High Street in full view. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the enterprises in their names, helping to mislead the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the core of the operation, who stated that he could erase government sanctions of up to £60k encountered those hiring illegal employees.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to say that they do not characterize Kurdish people," states Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a state - because his life was at risk.

The reporters admit that disagreements over illegal immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized labor "negatively affects the whole Kurdish population" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was concerned the coverage could be used by the radical right.

He explains this particularly struck him when he noticed that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity protest was happening in the capital on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Banners and banners could be seen at the gathering, showing "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish community and explain it has sparked strong frustration for some. One Facebook comment they spotted stated: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

A different demanded their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen allegations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly concerned about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Practically saying, this isn't sufficient to sustain a acceptable existence," states the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from employment, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "obligated to labor in the black economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department said: "The government make no apology for denying refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - granting this would create an motivation for people to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can require a long time to be resolved with almost a one-third requiring over a year, according to government figures from the spring this year.

The reporter explains working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to achieve, but he told the team he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals spent all of their savings to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but also [you]