Why We Went Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to uncover a operation behind unlawful commercial businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they state.

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

Investigators discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing small shops, hair salons and car washes throughout the United Kingdom, and sought to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Prepared with covert cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, looking to buy and manage a convenience store from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were able to discover how simple it is for a person in these circumstances to start and operate a business on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals participating, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, helping to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly document one of those at the centre of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate official sanctions of up to £60k imposed on those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"I sought to contribute in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to declare that they don't speak for Kurdish people," explains Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman came to the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his safety was at risk.

The journalists admit that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are high in the UK and state they have both been worried that the probe could inflame tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal labor "damages the whole Kurdish community" and he believes obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali mentions he was worried the reporting could be used by the radical right.

He states this especially affected him when he realized that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be observed at the rally, reading "we want our nation back".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has generated significant frustration for some. One Facebook post they found stated: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

One more urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered accusations that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our objective is to uncover those who have damaged its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly worried about the behavior of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He states he had to survive on under £20 a week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive about forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to official policies.

"Practically speaking, this is not sufficient to support a respectable existence," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from working, he believes a significant number are susceptible to being exploited and are essentially "forced to work in the unofficial market for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "We are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the right to be employed - granting this would generate an reason for people to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee cases can take a long time to be decided with almost a 33% requiring over 12 months, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to do, but he informed us he would not have done that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he encountered employed in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", especially those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent their entire savings to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited all they had."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

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