The Reasons We Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Community

Two Kurdish-background individuals consented to go undercover to reveal a operation behind illegal High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was operating convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, seeking to acquire and manage a mini-mart from which to sell illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to discover how easy it is for someone in these situations to establish and manage a business on the High Street in public view. The individuals involved, we learned, pay Kurds who have UK residency to legally establish the operations in their names, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly record one of those at the heart of the operation, who asserted that he could remove government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds faced those using illegal laborers.

"I wanted to contribute in uncovering these unlawful activities [...] to say that they don't represent our community," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the country without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The journalists admit that disagreements over illegal immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the inquiry could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter explains that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish population" and he considers obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was concerned the coverage could be used by the far-right.

He says this especially affected him when he discovered that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Banners and flags could be spotted at the gathering, reading "we demand our nation returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has caused intense outrage for some. One Facebook comment they found stated: "In what way can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be attacked.

They have also encountered allegations that they were agents for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter states. "Our aim is to expose those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish identity and extremely troubled about the activities of such persons."

Most of those applying for refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that helps asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now receive about forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to official policies.

"Realistically saying, this is not enough to maintain a respectable existence," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from working, he believes many are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are essentially "forced to labor in the unofficial economy for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities said: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to work - granting this would create an incentive for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum applications can take years to be processed with nearly a 33% taking more than 12 months, according to government statistics from the end of March this current year.

The reporter explains being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to accomplish, but he explained to us he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he met employed in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used their entire savings to come to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited everything."

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

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