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

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals consented to work covertly to uncover a organization behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are damaging the image of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

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

The team found that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating mini-marts, barbershops and car washes the length of the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Armed with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, attempting to acquire and manage a mini-mart from which to trade illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to discover how easy it is for an individual in these situations to establish and run a business on the main street in public view. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly document one of those at the core of the network, who claimed that he could erase official sanctions of up to £60k encountered those hiring illegal employees.

"Personally sought to contribute in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent us," explains Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his well-being was at threat.

The investigators recognize that tensions over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been worried that the probe could worsen conflicts.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish community" and he feels obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, Ali says he was worried the publication could be exploited by the radical right.

He says this notably impressed him when he realized that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the rally, showing "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media response to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish community and report it has caused strong anger for some. One social media post they observed read: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

One more demanded their relatives in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen allegations that they were informants for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely concerned about the behavior of such persons."

Most of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing political oppression, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a non-profit that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, struggled for years. He explains he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides food, according to government regulations.

"Practically saying, this is not sufficient to support a acceptable existence," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from working, he feels many are vulnerable to being exploited and are effectively "forced to work in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A official for the government department stated: "We make no apology for not granting asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would generate an motivation for people to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can take years to be processed with nearly a third taking more than a year, according to government statistics from the late March this current year.

The reporter says working illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite simple to accomplish, but he informed us he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he met employed in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals expended all their money to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] say you're not allowed to work - but additionally [you]