The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish men decided to operate secretly to reveal a network behind unlawful main street establishments because the criminals are damaging the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they say.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided legally in the UK for years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes across Britain, and sought to find out more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, looking to acquire and operate a small shop from which to trade contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to discover how easy it is for an individual in these situations to establish and operate a enterprise on the commercial area in public view. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, helping to deceive the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also were able to covertly document one of those at the core of the organization, who asserted that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"I sought to play a role in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for our community," says Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the UK illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a area that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his well-being was at danger.

The reporters acknowledge that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen hostilities.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized labor "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was anxious the coverage could be used by the far-right.

He states this especially impressed him when he realized that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Placards and banners could be seen at the protest, showing "we demand our country returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin population and report it has caused significant anger for some. One Facebook message they observed read: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

A different called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read claims that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly concerned about the behavior of such people."

Most of those seeking refugee status claim they are escaping political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which provides food, according to official regulations.

"Realistically stating, this isn't adequate to maintain a respectable life," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are practically "forced to labor in the illegal economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the Home Office stated: "The government make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the permission to work - doing so would establish an motivation for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be resolved with almost a one-third requiring over a year, according to government statistics from the late March this current year.

Saman explains working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to achieve, but he told us he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he met employed in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They spent their entire savings to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these people seemed in dire straits.

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