The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background men consented to work covertly to expose a network behind unlawful commercial establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the UK, they state.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of Britain, and wanted to learn more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to work, looking to acquire and operate a convenience store from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how easy it is for an individual in these conditions to set up and run a enterprise on the High Street in public view. Those involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, helping to deceive the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also were able to covertly document one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could remove government penalties of up to £60k faced those using unauthorized laborers.

"Personally aimed to play a role in exposing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not characterize us," explains one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over illegal migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal labor "harms the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he feels compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was anxious the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He says this particularly impressed him when he noticed that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Signs and flags could be seen at the protest, displaying "we want our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish population and report it has caused strong outrage for some. One social media post they observed read: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another demanded their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the British authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter says. "Our goal is to expose those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly troubled about the activities of such persons."

Most of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, faced difficulties for years. He says he had to survive on under £20 a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to government guidance.

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

Because refugee applicants are largely prevented from employment, he feels many are open to being manipulated and are practically "obligated to labor in the unofficial market for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the authorities said: "The government are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - granting this would establish an motivation for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can require multiple years to be resolved with almost a 33% taking more than one year, according to government data from the spring this current year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to accomplish, but he explained to us he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he met laboring in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

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

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to be employed - but also [you]