The Reasons Our Team Went Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals agreed to work covertly to expose a organization behind unlawful High Street businesses because the lawbreakers are negatively affecting the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they say.

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

The team uncovered that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services across Britain, and sought to discover more about how it functioned and who was involved.

Prepared with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to work, seeking to purchase and manage a mini-mart from which to sell illegal tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to start and manage a enterprise on the commercial area in public view. Those involved, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, enabling to mislead the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the core of the organization, who asserted that he could erase government fines of up to £60k encountered those hiring unauthorized employees.

"I aimed to play a role in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent Kurdish people," states one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter came to the UK illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that covers the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at threat.

The journalists recognize that disagreements over illegal migration are elevated in the UK and explain they have both been worried that the probe could intensify conflicts.

But Ali states that the unauthorized labor "harms the entire Kurdish population" and he considers driven to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was worried the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He says this especially struck him when he realized that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was happening in London on one of the weekends he was operating secretly. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, displaying "we want our country returned".

The reporters have both been tracking online feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has generated strong outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook message they spotted said: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

One more demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered claims that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurds. "We are not spies, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish community," Saman states. "Our objective is to expose those who have damaged its image. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely troubled about the behavior of such people."

Most of those applying for asylum say they are fleeing political discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He explains he had to survive on under £20 a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which provides meals, according to official regulations.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't sufficient to maintain a respectable existence," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from working, he believes many are open to being manipulated and are practically "obligated to labor in the illegal market for as low as £3 per hour".

A official for the Home Office said: "The government are unapologetic for not granting asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would create an reason for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be resolved with approximately a third requiring over 12 months, according to official data from the late March this current year.

The reporter says being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely straightforward to achieve, but he explained to the team he would never have done that.

However, he explains that those he met laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent their entire funds to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost everything."

The other reporter concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to be employed - but also [you]