The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish individuals agreed to operate secretly to expose a operation behind illegal commercial establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

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

Investigators found that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing convenience stores, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no right to work, attempting to buy and manage a small shop from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to reveal how straightforward it is for someone in these circumstances to start and manage a enterprise on the High Street in full view. The individuals participating, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the operations in their identities, enabling to fool the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly document one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could eliminate official fines of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those using unauthorized employees.

"I wanted to contribute in exposing these illegal activities [...] to say that they do not represent us," explains Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area 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 reporters admit that conflicts over illegal migration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized labor "harms the entire Kurdish community" and he feels obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was worried the coverage could be used by the radical right.

He explains this especially affected him when he realized that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the protest, displaying "we demand our country back".

The reporters have both been observing online response to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and explain it has caused intense frustration for some. One social media post they observed stated: "In what way can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

A different urged their families in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the UK government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to expose those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely worried about the activities of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He says he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to official guidance.

"Realistically stating, this isn't sufficient to maintain a respectable lifestyle," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from working, he feels numerous are vulnerable to being exploited and are essentially "obligated to labor in the illegal market for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the Home Office commented: "We make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to be employed - granting this would create an motivation for people to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee cases can take a long time to be processed with almost a one-third taking over 12 months, according to government figures from the spring this current year.

Saman explains working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he told us he would never have participated in that.

However, he explains that those he interviewed working in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "disoriented", notably those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended their entire money to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're prohibited to be employed - but simultaneously [you]