Why Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish men consented to operate secretly to uncover a network behind illegal commercial establishments because the wrongdoers are causing harm the image of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and sought to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Armed with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to work, attempting to buy and operate a small shop from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how easy it is for someone in these situations to start and manage a business on the main street in full view. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, assisting to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also managed to covertly record one of those at the core of the organization, who asserted that he could erase government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing unauthorized employees.

"I sought to participate in exposing these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent us," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his life was at threat.

The journalists admit that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the UK and say they have both been worried that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter says that the illegal employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali mentions he was concerned the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He explains this notably struck him when he noticed that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be observed at the rally, reading "we demand our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media response to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and say it has caused significant outrage for some. One social media comment they spotted stated: "How can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another called for their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen claims that they were informants for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," Saman states. "Our goal is to uncover those who have damaged its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely troubled about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those applying for refugee status state they are fleeing political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided about forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers meals, according to government policies.

"Realistically saying, this isn't adequate to support a dignified lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prevented from employment, he feels numerous are open to being taken advantage of and are effectively "compelled to labor in the black market for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the government department said: "We are unapologetic for denying refugee applicants the permission to be employed - doing so would generate an reason for individuals to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be resolved with approximately a third taking more than a year, according to official statistics from the spring this year.

Saman states working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to do, but he told 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 refused and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals expended all their funds to travel to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these people seemed desperate.

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