The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background men decided to go undercover to reveal a organization behind illegal commercial businesses because the criminals are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they state.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to work, seeking to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for someone in these situations to start and operate a enterprise on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the operations in their identities, enabling to deceive the officials.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to secretly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60,000 faced those employing illegal employees.

"I wanted to participate in revealing these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't characterize us," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the country illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists admit that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But Ali states that the unauthorized labor "negatively affects the whole Kurdish population" and he believes obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was concerned the publication could be used by the radical right.

He explains this especially struck him when he discovered that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity rally was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Placards and flags could be seen at the protest, displaying "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been tracking online response to the exposé from inside the Kurdish population and say it has generated strong outrage for certain individuals. One social media message they observed stated: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also encountered allegations that they were informants for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish identity and profoundly worried about the behavior of such individuals."

Most of those seeking refugee status state they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert reporter one investigator, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for years. He explains he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his asylum claim was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to government regulations.

"Realistically speaking, this is not adequate to sustain a dignified lifestyle," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he believes numerous are susceptible to being exploited and are practically "compelled to work in the black market for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the Home Office stated: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would create an motivation for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum applications can require a long time to be decided with approximately a third taking more than 12 months, according to government data from the end of March this current year.

Saman says working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been quite straightforward to do, but he told the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals expended all of their money to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed everything."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're prohibited to work - but also [you]