Why We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to operate secretly to expose a network behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the wrongdoers are damaging the image of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both lived legally in the UK for years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and sought to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Prepared with covert cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to work, seeking to acquire and run a small shop from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to discover how straightforward it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and run a enterprise on the main street in public view. The individuals participating, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their identities, helping to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly document one of those at the core of the organization, who stated that he could remove government penalties of up to £60,000 encountered those using illegal laborers.

"Personally sought to play a role in revealing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they do not characterize Kurdish people," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The reporters admit that conflicts over illegal immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could worsen conflicts.

But Ali explains that the illegal employment "harms the whole Kurdish population" and he believes driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was concerned the coverage could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this notably struck him when he discovered that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was happening in London on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Placards and banners could be observed at the gathering, showing "we demand our country returned".

The reporters have both been tracking social media feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and say it has generated intense anger for certain individuals. One social media comment they found read: "How can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more called for their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were agents for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman explains. "Our aim is to reveal those who have damaged its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely troubled about the behavior of such people."

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

This was the situation for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He states he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers meals, according to government guidance.

"Practically speaking, this isn't enough to maintain a dignified existence," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from employment, he thinks a significant number are susceptible to being manipulated and are practically "obligated to labor in the unofficial market for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the government department commented: "The government do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would create an motivation for individuals to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can require a long time to be processed with nearly a one-third requiring over 12 months, according to official data from the end of March this current year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to do, but he explained to the team he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he interviewed working in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all of their savings to come to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

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