The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to uncover a network behind illegal High Street enterprises because the criminals are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for years.

The team found that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of the United Kingdom, and aimed to discover more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, seeking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how straightforward it is for someone in these situations to set up and run a enterprise on the main street in full view. Those involved, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the businesses in their names, helping to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly document one of those at the heart of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate official fines of up to £60,000 encountered those employing unauthorized employees.

"I aimed to play a role in exposing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they don't characterize us," says Saman, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter entered the UK illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a country - because his well-being was at threat.

The reporters acknowledge that disagreements over illegal migration are high in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized working "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, Ali explains he was anxious the reporting could be seized upon by the far-right.

He states this particularly impressed him when he realized that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Placards and flags could be seen at the gathering, displaying "we demand our nation back".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media response to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin community and say it has generated intense anger for certain individuals. One social media message they found stated: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly troubled about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum claim they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for years. He explains he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Refugee applicants now get approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers meals, according to government regulations.

"Honestly saying, this isn't adequate to maintain a acceptable life," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from working, he believes many are vulnerable to being manipulated and are practically "compelled to labor in the black sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office commented: "We are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would generate an motivation for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

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

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he told the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he met working in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent their entire money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost all they had."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] state you're forbidden to work - but additionally [you]