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

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals decided to go undercover to uncover a operation behind illegal commercial establishments because the criminals are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both resided legally in the UK for many years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running mini-marts, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and sought to find out more about how it worked and who was participating.

Armed with covert cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, looking to acquire and run a convenience store from which to trade illegal tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these situations to set up and manage a commercial operation on the commercial area in full view. The individuals involved, we found, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their names, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly document one of those at the heart of the operation, who claimed that he could remove official penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those using illegal employees.

"I sought to contribute in exposing these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for us," says Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over illegal migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But Ali says that the illegal labor "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he feels driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist says he was anxious the reporting could be seized upon by the far-right.

He says this notably impressed him when he realized that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity march was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be spotted at the rally, showing "we demand our country back".

Both journalists have both been observing social media reaction to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has generated significant outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook post they observed said: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

A different called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were informants for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," Saman explains. "Our goal is to uncover those who have compromised its image. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and deeply concerned about the behavior of such people."

Most of those applying for asylum claim they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He states he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to Home Office guidance.

"Practically saying, this is not adequate to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally restricted from employment, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "compelled to labor in the illegal market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the government department commented: "We are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the permission to be employed - doing so would create an incentive for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can require multiple years to be processed with nearly a third requiring over a year, according to government figures from the late March this year.

Saman states being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite simple to do, but he told us he would never have engaged in that.

However, he states that those he encountered working in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended their entire savings to travel to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

"When [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but additionally [you]