Why We Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish men consented to work covertly to reveal a network behind illegal main street businesses because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both resided legally in the UK for many years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating convenience stores, barbershops and car washes across the United Kingdom, and sought to find out more about how it operated and who was participating.

Equipped with covert cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, attempting to purchase and manage a mini-mart from which to sell contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were able to reveal how straightforward it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and manage a business on the main street in full view. Those participating, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to legally establish the businesses in their names, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly film one of those at the centre of the network, who stated that he could remove government penalties of up to £60,000 faced those hiring unauthorized workers.

"I aimed to contribute in revealing these illegal practices [...] to declare that they don't speak for us," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that covers the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at risk.

The investigators admit that conflicts over unauthorized migration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame hostilities.

But Ali explains that the illegal working "damages the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers compelled to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the radical right.

He states this particularly affected him when he noticed that far-right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Placards and flags could be observed at the rally, reading "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been observing online reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has caused strong anger for some. One Facebook message they spotted read: "In what way can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

One more urged their families in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the British government, and traitors to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish identity and extremely troubled about the activities of such persons."

Most of those seeking refugee status state they are fleeing political oppression, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that supports asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, experienced challenges for many years. He explains he had to live on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in shelter which includes meals, according to official regulations.

"Honestly stating, this isn't adequate to support a acceptable life," explains Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from working, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and are effectively "forced to work in the illegal sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A official for the authorities commented: "The government are unapologetic for not granting refugee applicants the permission to be employed - granting this would create an reason for people to migrate to the United Kingdom without authorization."

Refugee applications can require multiple years to be decided with approximately a one-third taking more than a year, according to official data from the late March this year.

The reporter states working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite easy to accomplish, but he informed us he would not have done that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he interviewed working in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended their entire funds to travel to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost all they had."

Ali agrees that these people seemed hopeless.

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