The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish individuals decided to go undercover to reveal a operation behind unlawful High Street establishments because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they say.

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

The team found that a Kurdish criminal operation was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes throughout Britain, and aimed to learn more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Armed with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, looking to buy and operate a convenience store from which to trade illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how straightforward it is for a person in these situations to establish and manage a enterprise on the main street in full view. Those participating, we discovered, pay Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to secretly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who stated that he could remove government sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to participate in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to say that they do not represent our community," says Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the country without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a region that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at danger.

The journalists admit that conflicts over unauthorized migration are high in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify hostilities.

But Ali states that the illegal employment "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Furthermore, Ali explains he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the extreme right.

He explains this particularly struck him when he discovered that extreme right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Signs and flags could be observed at the rally, showing "we demand our country returned".

The reporters have both been tracking online response to the exposé from within the Kurdish community and report it has caused significant outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they observed said: "How can we find and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered claims that they were spies for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter says. "Our goal is to uncover those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply concerned about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those applying for refugee status state they are fleeing political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers food, according to Home Office regulations.

"Honestly saying, this isn't adequate to support a dignified lifestyle," says the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from employment, he feels many are open to being taken advantage of and are practically "forced to labor in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A official for the government department stated: "We do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - granting this would create an motivation for people to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can require years to be decided with approximately a third taking over a year, according to government statistics from the spring this current year.

Saman explains being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been extremely easy to do, but he informed us he would never have done that.

However, he explains that those he encountered employed in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"They used all of their savings to come to the UK, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost all they had."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] declare you're not allowed to work - but also [you]