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

Two Kurdish-background individuals consented to operate secretly to reveal a network behind unlawful main street businesses because the wrongdoers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived lawfully in the UK for a long time.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across the UK, and sought to learn more about how it worked and who was involved.

Prepared with secret cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, attempting to buy and run a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

They were successful to uncover how easy it is for an individual in these conditions to set up and manage a enterprise on the commercial area in public view. The individuals involved, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly record one of those at the heart of the operation, who stated that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60k faced those employing illegal employees.

"Personally wanted to contribute in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent our community," states Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the country without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his safety was at risk.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over illegal migration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen conflicts.

But the other reporter states that the unauthorized working "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, the journalist says he was anxious the coverage could be used by the extreme right.

He says this notably affected him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Placards and flags could be observed at the gathering, displaying "we want our nation returned".

The reporters have both been observing social media reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish community and explain it has generated significant anger for some. One Facebook comment they observed stated: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also read accusations that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," Saman states. "Our goal is to uncover those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and extremely troubled about the behavior of such persons."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He explains he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes food, according to government regulations.

"Practically speaking, this is not sufficient to sustain a acceptable lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are open to being exploited and are effectively "forced to work in the illegal economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the government department commented: "The government do not apologize for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would create an motivation for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can require multiple years to be resolved with almost a third taking over 12 months, according to government figures from the late March this current year.

Saman says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very simple to achieve, but he informed us he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "confused", notably those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They used their entire money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed everything."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

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