The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to work covertly to reveal a organization behind unlawful High Street businesses because the lawbreakers are damaging the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they state.

The two, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for years.

The team discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services across the United Kingdom, and sought to discover more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to work, attempting to buy and manage a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and vapes.

They were able to reveal how simple it is for someone in these conditions to establish and manage a commercial operation on the main street in full view. Those involved, we found, compensate Kurds who have British citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, enabling to fool the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could eliminate government fines of up to £60,000 faced those employing illegal workers.

"Personally aimed to participate in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they don't characterize us," explains one reporter, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his safety was at threat.

The journalists admit that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are high in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been worried that the investigation could inflame conflicts.

But Ali says that the illegal employment "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Separately, the journalist says he was concerned the publication could be seized upon by the radical right.

He says this especially affected him when he noticed that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working undercover. Signs and flags could be seen at the protest, displaying "we want our nation back".

Both journalists have both been monitoring social media feedback to the investigation from inside the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has sparked significant anger for certain individuals. One social media comment they spotted stated: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

One more urged their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no intention of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly worried about the behavior of such people."

Most of those applying for asylum say they are escaping political discrimination, according to an expert from the a refugee support organization, a organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the situation for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He states he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his asylum claim was processed.

Refugee applicants now get about forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which offers meals, according to Home Office regulations.

"Practically stating, this isn't enough to maintain a dignified existence," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from employment, he feels many are open to being manipulated and are effectively "compelled to labor in the illegal economy for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the government department commented: "We do not apologize for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to work - granting this would generate an incentive for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can take multiple years to be resolved with approximately a one-third requiring over 12 months, according to government data from the late March this year.

The reporter states working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite straightforward to do, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

However, he states that those he met laboring in illegal mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", notably those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals used all of their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've sacrificed all they had."

The other reporter concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

"If [they] say you're forbidden to be employed - but also [you]