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

A pair of Kurdish men decided to work covertly to reveal a network behind illegal commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are damaging the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

The pair, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided lawfully in the UK for years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish crime network was managing mini-marts, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services the length of the United Kingdom, and wanted to discover more about how it operated and who was participating.

Prepared with secret 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 contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to discover how easy it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and operate a commercial operation on the main street in full view. Those participating, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their names, helping to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to secretly document one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60k encountered those using unauthorized laborers.

"I aimed to play a role in uncovering these illegal activities [...] to say that they do not represent our community," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter entered the country without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his life was at risk.

The investigators admit that conflicts over unauthorized migration are high in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized employment "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was anxious the publication could be seized upon by the far-right.

He says this particularly impressed him when he discovered that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity rally was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Banners and flags could be seen at the gathering, reading "we want our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been observing social media reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish community and say it has generated strong frustration for certain individuals. One social media message they observed read: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

A different called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the British authorities, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman explains. "Our aim is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply worried about the activities of such people."

The majority of those seeking refugee status say they are fleeing political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for years. He explains he had to live on under £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to official regulations.

"Practically speaking, this isn't sufficient to maintain a acceptable lifestyle," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from working, he feels numerous are open to being exploited and are practically "obligated to labor in the unofficial sector for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the government department stated: "We make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to work - granting this would create an reason for people to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can take multiple years to be resolved with approximately a third requiring over one year, according to official figures from the spring this current year.

The reporter states being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to achieve, but he informed us he would not have participated in that.

However, he says that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended their entire savings to come to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost everything."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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