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

A pair of Kurdish-background men agreed to operate secretly to reveal a network behind unlawful commercial businesses because the criminals are damaging the standing of Kurdish people in the UK, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for many years.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish criminal operation was running mini-marts, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout the United Kingdom, and wanted to learn more about how it operated and who was involved.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, seeking to buy and run a convenience store from which to sell contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how easy it is for an individual in these circumstances to set up and manage a business on the High Street in plain sight. Those involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, assisting to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also succeeded to secretly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who stated that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60,000 imposed on those using unauthorized laborers.

"I wanted to play a role in revealing these illegal activities [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent us," states Saman, a ex- asylum seeker personally. The reporter entered the UK without authorization, having fled Kurdistan - a area that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a state - because his safety was at danger.

The journalists acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are elevated in the UK and state they have both been worried that the inquiry could inflame tensions.

But the other reporter says that the illegal labor "harms the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he feels compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was worried the publication could be used by the radical right.

He explains this particularly struck him when he discovered that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working undercover. Signs and flags could be spotted at the protest, reading "we demand our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been observing online reaction to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has sparked strong anger for some. One Facebook post they observed said: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another urged their families in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," Saman says. "Our goal is to reveal those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely concerned about the actions of such persons."

Most of those seeking asylum state they are fleeing political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a non-profit that helps refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert journalist Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides meals, according to government guidance.

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

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from employment, he thinks a significant number are vulnerable to being manipulated and are practically "forced to labor in the black sector for as little as £3 per hour".

A spokesperson for the government department commented: "The government are unapologetic for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would create an reason for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Asylum applications can require years to be processed with almost a one-third taking more than one year, according to official figures from the spring this year.

Saman states working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he informed us he would not have done that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he interviewed working in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all their funds to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're prohibited to work - but also [you]