Why We Went Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish men agreed to work covertly to expose a operation behind illegal commercial establishments because the criminals are damaging the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided lawfully in the UK for years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked criminal operation was managing small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of Britain, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin asylum seekers with no permission to work, attempting to buy and run a mini-mart from which to trade illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to reveal how easy it is for an individual in these conditions to set up and manage a enterprise on the commercial area in full view. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, enabling to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly film one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60k encountered those employing illegal employees.

"Personally wanted to contribute in exposing these unlawful activities [...] to say that they do not represent Kurdish people," explains Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a country - because his life was at risk.

The reporters recognize that tensions over unauthorized immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen conflicts.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he considers driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was worried the reporting could be exploited by the far-right.

He states this especially affected him when he noticed that extreme right campaigner a prominent activist's national unity march was taking place in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating secretly. Banners and flags could be seen at the rally, reading "we demand our country back".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring online reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish population and say it has sparked intense outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found stated: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another called for their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered accusations that they were informants for the UK authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no intention of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," Saman states. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly troubled about the behavior of such individuals."

Most of those seeking refugee status claim they are escaping political persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a charity that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, experienced challenges for many years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which offers food, according to official guidance.

"Practically saying, this is not adequate to support a respectable lifestyle," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from working, he believes many are susceptible to being exploited and are effectively "obligated to work in the unofficial economy for as little as £3 per hour".

A official for the government department commented: "The government make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - doing so would generate an reason for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be resolved with nearly a 33% requiring over a year, according to official figures from the spring this year.

The reporter explains working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or mini-mart would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he informed the team he would never have engaged in that.

However, he says that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his work seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals expended all of their money to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've forfeited all they had."

Ali acknowledges that these individuals seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to work - but additionally [you]