The Reasons We Went Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish individuals consented to work covertly to expose a operation behind unlawful High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and wanted to learn more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to work, attempting to purchase and manage a convenience store from which to trade illegal tobacco products and vapes.

They were able to uncover how easy it is for an individual in these situations to start and operate a enterprise on the commercial area in public view. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, enabling to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly document one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could remove government fines of up to £60k imposed on those hiring unauthorized workers.

"Personally aimed to play a role in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to say that they don't speak for us," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a region that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his well-being was at danger.

The reporters acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are high in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal employment "damages the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was anxious the reporting could be seized upon by the radical right.

He explains this particularly affected him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Placards and banners could be seen at the protest, reading "we want our country returned".

Both journalists have both been tracking social media feedback to the inquiry from within the Kurdish community and report it has generated strong anger for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they observed stated: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

One more urged their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our goal is to uncover those who have compromised its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply concerned about the behavior of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He states he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers meals, according to government policies.

"Honestly speaking, this is not adequate to support a acceptable existence," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely prevented from employment, he believes many are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to work in the black sector for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "We make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the right to work - granting this would generate an reason for individuals to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can require years to be decided with approximately a one-third requiring over a year, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

The reporter says working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite easy to achieve, but he informed the team he would never have done that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he met laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"They expended all their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed all they had."

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

"When [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but simultaneously [you]