The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish men decided to work covertly to expose a operation behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the Britain, they explain.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and wanted to learn more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to work, attempting to buy and operate a small shop from which to distribute unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these conditions to start and operate a business on the commercial area in public view. Those participating, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, assisting to deceive the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly document one of those at the centre of the organization, who stated that he could erase government sanctions of up to £60,000 faced those employing illegal employees.

"Personally sought to contribute in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not speak for our community," explains Saman, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the country illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at threat.

The investigators acknowledge that conflicts over illegal migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame conflicts.

But the other reporter says that the illegal labor "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he believes obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was concerned the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

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

The reporters have both been observing online feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated intense outrage for some. One Facebook comment they spotted said: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

A different demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also seen allegations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly worried about the actions of such individuals."

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

This was the situation for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes food, according to government regulations.

"Realistically stating, this isn't sufficient to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from working, he believes a significant number are vulnerable to being exploited and are essentially "obligated to work in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office commented: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum cases can take a long time to be decided with nearly a 33% requiring more than 12 months, according to government data from the late March this current year.

The reporter states working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very easy to accomplish, but he informed us he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he met laboring in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent their entire money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

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

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