The Reasons We Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals agreed to operate secretly to expose a organization behind illegal main street establishments because the criminals are damaging the image of Kurds in the UK, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was managing mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of Britain, and wanted to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to be employed, looking to buy and manage a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for a person in these conditions to set up and manage a commercial operation on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to register the operations in their identities, enabling to deceive the officials.

Saman and Ali also managed to secretly film one of those at the core of the operation, who claimed that he could eliminate official penalties of up to £60,000 faced those hiring illegal employees.

"Personally wanted to contribute in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent our community," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the UK illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his well-being was at risk.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could inflame conflicts.

But the other reporter states that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist explains he was worried the publication could be exploited by the extreme right.

He explains this notably affected him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity rally was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Placards and flags could be spotted at the gathering, reading "we want our nation back".

The reporters have both been monitoring online reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish population and explain it has caused strong anger for certain individuals. One social media comment they spotted read: "How can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman says. "Our aim is to reveal those who have damaged its standing. We are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply worried about the activities of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum state they are escaping political discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the UK, faced difficulties for years. He explains he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which includes food, according to government guidance.

"Realistically stating, this is not adequate to sustain a acceptable existence," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely restricted from employment, he feels many are vulnerable to being manipulated and are effectively "forced to work in the black sector for as low as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities stated: "We are unapologetic for denying asylum seekers the permission to be employed - granting this would establish an motivation for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can take years to be resolved with almost a third requiring over 12 months, according to government figures from the late March this year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to do, but he told us he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "lost", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals spent all of their money to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've lost all they had."

Ali agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] state you're forbidden to work - but also [you]