The Reasons We Went Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals agreed to work covertly to uncover a organization behind unlawful commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are damaging the image of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided legally in the UK for a long time.

The team discovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was managing mini-marts, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and wanted to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to work, attempting to buy and operate a convenience store from which to trade illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to reveal how simple it is for a person in these conditions to start and manage a business on the High Street in public view. Those involved, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also were able to covertly record one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60k encountered those employing unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to play a role in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not characterize us," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his safety was at threat.

The investigators admit that conflicts over unauthorized migration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen conflicts.

But the other reporter states that the unauthorized labor "harms the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he considers obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Additionally, the journalist says he was worried the coverage could be exploited by the radical right.

He states this notably struck him when he realized that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity rally was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, reading "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media response to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and say it has generated strong anger for some. One social media message they found stated: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

One more urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen allegations that they were agents for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to reveal those who have damaged its image. We are proud of our Kurdish identity and extremely concerned about the activities of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status state they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for many years. He explains he had to live on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to government policies.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't sufficient to maintain a respectable lifestyle," states Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from employment, he feels numerous are susceptible to being manipulated and are essentially "forced to work in the unofficial economy for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the government department commented: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to work - doing so would generate an reason for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be decided with approximately a 33% taking over one year, according to official data from the spring this current year.

Saman states being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite easy to achieve, but he informed the team he would not have done that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he met employed in illegal mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all their funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

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