The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to go undercover to expose a operation behind illegal commercial establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin reporters who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of Britain, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Equipped with secret cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, seeking to acquire and manage a small shop from which to trade unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to reveal how easy it is for someone in these situations to start and run a enterprise on the commercial area in full view. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the operations in their identities, assisting to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to covertly record 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 workers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in revealing these illegal operations [...] to say that they do not represent Kurdish people," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his safety was at threat.

The investigators recognize that conflicts over illegal migration are significant in the UK and state they have both been anxious that the investigation could inflame hostilities.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal labor "damages the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali says he was worried the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He states this particularly impressed him when he discovered that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be seen at the protest, reading "we demand our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish community and report it has caused intense anger for certain individuals. One social media post they observed stated: "In what way can we locate and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

Another called for their families in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered accusations that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish-origin population," Saman states. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply troubled about the actions of such persons."

The majority of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing political discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a charity that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers food, according to Home Office guidance.

"Practically speaking, this isn't enough to sustain a respectable existence," states the expert from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are largely prohibited from working, he feels numerous are open to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to work in the black economy for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the government department said: "We are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would create an reason for people to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee applications can take multiple years to be resolved with approximately a one-third taking more than one year, according to official figures from the spring this year.

Saman explains being employed without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite simple to accomplish, but he told the team he would never have engaged in that.

However, he states that those he interviewed laboring in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent all of their money to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum refused and now they've lost everything."

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

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