Why Our Team Went Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to work covertly to expose a network behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the criminals are negatively affecting the image of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived legally in the UK for many years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running mini-marts, hair salons and car washes throughout Britain, and wanted to discover more about how it operated and who was involved.

Armed with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, seeking to acquire and operate a small shop from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to uncover how easy it is for someone in these circumstances to establish and run a commercial operation on the main street in full view. Those participating, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also managed to covertly record one of those at the centre of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate official fines of up to £60,000 imposed on those using illegal workers.

"I sought to contribute in revealing these illegal operations [...] to say that they don't speak for Kurdish people," states Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that conflicts over unauthorized immigration are significant in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter states that the illegal labor "damages the entire Kurdish community" and he believes obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was anxious the publication could be used by the radical right.

He says this especially struck him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was taking place in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Placards and flags could be seen at the protest, showing "we want our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been tracking online response to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has generated intense outrage for some. One social media post they spotted read: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

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

They have also read claims that they were informants for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter says. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely worried about the activities of such people."

Most of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which provides meals, according to official guidance.

"Realistically stating, this is not sufficient to sustain a acceptable life," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prevented from employment, he believes many are susceptible to being exploited and are essentially "forced to work in the unofficial market for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "The government make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - doing so would establish an motivation for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be resolved with approximately a 33% requiring over a year, according to official figures from the spring this current year.

The reporter states being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very easy to accomplish, but he informed the team he would not have done that.

However, he states that those he interviewed working in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent all of their funds to come to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited all they had."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but simultaneously [you]