Why Our Team Went Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish men consented to operate secretly to expose a operation behind unlawful main street establishments because the criminals are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the Britain, they state.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish crime network was operating mini-marts, hair salons and car washes throughout Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it functioned and who was taking part.

Armed with secret cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to work, looking to purchase and manage a small shop from which to distribute contraband cigarettes and vapes.

They were successful to discover how easy it is for someone in these situations to establish and manage a business on the commercial area in full view. The individuals involved, we learned, compensate Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, enabling to fool the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to secretly document one of those at the heart of the network, who asserted that he could remove official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing illegal laborers.

"I wanted to play a role in uncovering these unlawful practices [...] to say that they do not speak for Kurdish people," states one reporter, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter entered the country without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that straddles the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The reporters acknowledge that conflicts over unauthorized migration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the investigation could worsen conflicts.

But Ali says that the unauthorized employment "damages the whole Kurdish population" and he considers obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali explains he was concerned the reporting could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this especially impressed him when he discovered that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Banners and flags could be spotted at the protest, showing "we demand our country returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media response to the exposé from inside the Kurdish population and report it has sparked intense anger for some. One social media comment they observed said: "How can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

One more called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were spies for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to reveal those who have damaged its standing. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply troubled about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those applying for asylum state they are escaping politically motivated oppression, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided about forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers food, according to Home Office guidance.

"Practically stating, this isn't enough to maintain a dignified existence," says the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from working, he feels numerous are susceptible to being exploited and are practically "obligated to labor in the illegal sector for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities commented: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant refugee applicants the right to work - doing so would establish an reason for people to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take years to be processed with almost a third taking more than one year, according to government statistics from the end of March this current year.

Saman says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been extremely easy to accomplish, but he told us he would never have participated in that.

However, he says that those he met working in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all of their savings to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali agrees that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

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