Why We Went Covert to Uncover 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 wrongdoers are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was managing small shops, barbershops and car washes the length of Britain, and sought to discover more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to work, looking to purchase and run a mini-mart from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to reveal how straightforward it is for a person in these situations to set up and operate a commercial operation on the main street in plain sight. Those participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, helping to mislead the officials.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly film one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could erase official penalties of up to £60k faced those using unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to participate in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not characterize us," explains one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his safety was at risk.

The journalists acknowledge that disagreements over unauthorized migration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify tensions.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish population" and he feels obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was concerned the reporting could be seized upon by the radical right.

He states this notably affected him when he realized that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Banners and flags could be observed at the gathering, showing "we demand our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been tracking online reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and say it has sparked intense anger for certain individuals. One Facebook post they observed said: "In what way can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

Another demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the British government, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish population," Saman says. "Our aim is to uncover those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply troubled about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now receive about forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes food, according to official regulations.

"Practically saying, this isn't sufficient to support a acceptable life," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly prohibited from employment, he thinks a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are essentially "compelled to labor in the black market for as low as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office commented: "The government do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the permission to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be processed with approximately a 33% taking over one year, according to government statistics from the end of March this year.

Saman says being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely straightforward to do, but he told us he would not have done that.

However, he says that those he encountered employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent all their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

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