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

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to expose a operation behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they say.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for many years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, barbershops and car washes the length of the United Kingdom, and sought to find out more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, seeking to buy and manage a small shop from which to sell illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how easy it is for a person in these conditions to establish and manage a business on the main street in full view. The individuals involved, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, helping to mislead the officials.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the organization, who claimed that he could remove official sanctions of up to sixty thousand pounds imposed on those using unauthorized employees.

"Personally wanted to contribute in exposing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they don't characterize Kurdish people," explains Saman, a ex- refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the UK illegally, having fled the Kurdish region - a region that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his life was at risk.

The reporters admit that conflicts over illegal migration are high in the UK and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter states that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish-origin community" and he considers driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, Ali explains he was worried the publication could be used by the extreme right.

He explains this particularly impressed him when he noticed that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be observed at the rally, reading "we want our country returned".

Both journalists have both been monitoring online reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish community and report it has generated strong frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook post they observed read: "How can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

One more demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish community," Saman explains. "Our aim is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and extremely worried about the actions of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum state they are escaping political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that helps asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which includes food, according to government policies.

"Practically stating, this is not enough to sustain a respectable existence," says Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are generally prevented from employment, he feels many are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "obligated to labor in the unofficial sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the government department commented: "The government make no apology for denying asylum seekers the authorization to work - granting this would generate an incentive for people to travel to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can take years to be decided with approximately a 33% taking over one year, according to government statistics from the late March this current year.

Saman explains being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he explained to us he would not have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he states that those he interviewed employed in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals spent all of their funds to travel to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've forfeited everything."

Ali concurs that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're not allowed to work - but also [you]