The Reasons We Chose to Go Undercover to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish individuals consented to go undercover to uncover a network behind illegal main street enterprises because the criminals are damaging the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating small shops, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was involved.

Equipped with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no authorization to work, looking to purchase and operate a small shop from which to sell illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how simple it is for someone in these conditions to start and run a business on the High Street in public view. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their names, helping to mislead the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also were able to discreetly film one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could erase government fines of up to £60,000 imposed on those using unauthorized laborers.

"I sought to participate in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to say that they don't speak for Kurdish people," explains one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his well-being was at risk.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized migration are high in the UK and explain they have both been concerned that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But Ali states that the unauthorized working "harms the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He says this notably impressed him when he realized that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Signs and flags could be seen at the rally, displaying "we want our nation returned".

The reporters have both been observing social media response to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin population and report it has generated strong anger for certain individuals. One Facebook post they spotted read: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

One more urged their families in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to reveal those who have compromised its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply concerned about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that assists refugees and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He explains he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was considered.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes food, according to government guidance.

"Practically saying, this is not sufficient to maintain a acceptable existence," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from employment, he thinks a significant number are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are practically "compelled to labor in the black market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the authorities commented: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the right to work - doing so would establish an motivation for people to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum cases can require years to be resolved with nearly a 33% taking more than a year, according to official statistics from the end of March this year.

Saman says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite easy to achieve, but he informed us he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he interviewed working in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent their entire funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost all they had."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"When [they] state you're forbidden to be employed - but simultaneously [you]