The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish men consented to go undercover to expose a network behind illegal main street establishments because the lawbreakers are damaging the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services across the UK, and sought to find out more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Prepared with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, attempting to acquire and operate a convenience store from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to discover how straightforward it is for someone in these conditions to start and run a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. Those involved, we found, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the businesses in their names, helping to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to discreetly document one of those at the heart of the network, who stated that he could eliminate official fines of up to £60k imposed on those employing unauthorized workers.

"Personally sought to play a role in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they do not speak for our community," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. Saman entered the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his well-being was at risk.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized labor "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he feels driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Separately, Ali says he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He says this particularly affected him when he realized that radical right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media response to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has caused intense frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook post they observed said: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

One more called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also read accusations that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our aim is to expose those who have harmed its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and profoundly troubled about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now are provided about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides meals, according to Home Office guidance.

"Honestly saying, this isn't sufficient to maintain a dignified existence," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely restricted from employment, he believes a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are essentially "obligated to labor in the illegal market for as little as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the authorities stated: "We are unapologetic for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to work - granting this would generate an reason for people to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can take a long time to be resolved with almost a third requiring over 12 months, according to official data from the end of March this year.

The reporter states working without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he informed the team he would not have done that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals used all their money to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to be employed - but simultaneously [you]