The Reasons We Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men decided to operate secretly to expose a operation behind unlawful commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the UK, they say.

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

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was managing mini-marts, hair salons and car washes the length of the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to buy and operate a mini-mart from which to distribute unlawful tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to set up and run a business on the High Street in full view. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the operations in their names, helping to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly record one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60,000 encountered those using illegal workers.

"Personally wanted to play a role in revealing these unlawful activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent Kurdish people," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his life was at risk.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and state they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized employment "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he feels compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, Ali explains he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this notably affected him when he realized that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity rally was taking place in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the rally, showing "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been observing online feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin population and say it has sparked intense frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found stated: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also encountered allegations that they were informants for the UK government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish community," Saman says. "Our aim is to expose those who have compromised its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish identity and extremely concerned about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those applying for refugee status state they are escaping political persecution, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a charity that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

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

"Realistically speaking, this is not adequate to maintain a respectable life," states the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from working, he believes many are susceptible to being manipulated and are practically "forced to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the authorities commented: "The government are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to work - granting this would create an incentive for people to come to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Asylum applications can take multiple years to be decided with nearly a 33% taking over a year, according to official statistics from the end of March this current year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to do, but he told the team he would not have participated in that.

However, he says that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"They used all their money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application denied and now they've sacrificed everything."

Ali agrees that these people seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to work - but simultaneously [you]