The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to uncover a operation behind illegal main street establishments because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the UK, they state.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of the UK, and wanted to learn more about how it worked and who was participating.

Prepared with covert cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, looking to purchase and run a small shop from which to trade illegal cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these situations to start and manage a business on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, enabling to mislead the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could erase government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those hiring unauthorized employees.

"Personally sought to participate in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for us," says Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area 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 investigators acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are high in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify conflicts.

But Ali says that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he believes compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

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

He says this particularly impressed him when he noticed that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity rally was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working undercover. Banners and flags could be spotted at the protest, showing "we want our nation returned".

The reporters have both been tracking social media response to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin community and say it has sparked intense frustration for some. One Facebook comment they spotted said: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

A different called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also read allegations that they were spies for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish community," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to expose those who have compromised its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly troubled about the activities of such people."

Most of those applying for refugee status say they are fleeing politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He states he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now get approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides food, according to Home Office guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this is not enough to maintain a acceptable life," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely prohibited from employment, he thinks a significant number are open to being manipulated and are practically "compelled to labor in the black economy for as low as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office stated: "The government make no apology for denying refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would create an reason for people to migrate to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can take multiple years to be decided with approximately a 33% taking over a year, according to official statistics from the late March this year.

Saman says being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite simple to do, but he explained to us he would not have participated in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he encountered laboring in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended all their money to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] say you're not allowed to work - but also [you]