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

A pair of Kurdish men consented to operate secretly to expose a network behind illegal main street enterprises because the wrongdoers are damaging the image of Kurds in the UK, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived legally in the UK for years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish criminal operation was operating mini-marts, hair salons and car washes throughout the UK, and wanted to find out more about how it operated and who was involved.

Prepared with hidden cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to be employed, attempting to acquire and manage a convenience store from which to trade unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how simple it is for a person in these circumstances to set up and run a commercial operation on the main street in public view. The individuals participating, we discovered, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the businesses in their identities, helping to deceive the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly document one of those at the heart of the organization, who stated that he could remove government penalties of up to £60k encountered those employing unauthorized employees.

"I sought to contribute in revealing these illegal operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't represent us," says Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom without authorization, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a territory that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his well-being was at danger.

The reporters admit that disagreements over unauthorized migration are high in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen conflicts.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he feels driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was concerned the reporting could be seized upon by the far-right.

He explains this especially struck him when he discovered that far-right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was happening in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Placards and banners could be seen at the protest, displaying "we demand our country returned".

Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media reaction to the investigation from within the Kurdish-origin community and report it has caused significant frustration for certain individuals. One social media message they observed read: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another demanded their families in the Kurdish region to be harmed.

They have also seen claims that they were spies for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its image. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin heritage and deeply troubled about the behavior of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a non-profit that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He says he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided about forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which offers food, according to official regulations.

"Honestly stating, this is not adequate to maintain a dignified lifestyle," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are mostly restricted from employment, he believes numerous are vulnerable to being manipulated and are essentially "compelled to labor in the black market for as low as £3 per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the authorities commented: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would create an reason for people to come to the UK without authorization."

Refugee applications can require a long time to be resolved with approximately a 33% requiring more than 12 months, according to government data from the late March this year.

Saman explains being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely easy to achieve, but he told the team he would never have done that.

Nonetheless, he says that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They spent all their money to migrate to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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