The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to go undercover to expose a organization behind unlawful High Street businesses because the wrongdoers are causing harm the standing of Kurdish people in the Britain, they state.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish reporters who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for years.

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating small shops, hair salons and car washes across the United Kingdom, and aimed to find out more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to work, attempting to purchase and run a mini-mart from which to distribute contraband cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to reveal how simple it is for an individual in these circumstances to start and run a business on the commercial area in public view. Those involved, we found, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their identities, helping to mislead the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly document one of those at the heart of the operation, who asserted that he could remove official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those using unauthorized workers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to declare that they do not characterize Kurdish people," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at risk.

The investigators recognize that tensions over unauthorized migration are high in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could inflame tensions.

But Ali states that the illegal employment "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he feels obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist explains he was concerned the publication could be exploited by the far-right.

He explains this notably struck him when he noticed that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Banners and flags could be observed at the gathering, displaying "we demand our country back".

The reporters have both been monitoring social media feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has caused significant outrage for some. One social media message they spotted read: "In what way can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

A different demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely worried about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those applying for refugee status say they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the UK, struggled for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now get about £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which provides food, according to government regulations.

"Practically speaking, this isn't adequate to support a respectable existence," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely prevented from employment, he feels a significant number are vulnerable to being exploited and are essentially "forced to work in the illegal market for as little as three pounds per hour".

A official for the authorities stated: "We do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would establish an reason for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be resolved with nearly a third taking more than one year, according to government statistics from the late March this year.

Saman says working illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to achieve, but he informed the team he would never have done that.

Nevertheless, he says that those he encountered working in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They used all their money to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed everything."

Ali concurs that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to work - but simultaneously [you]