Why We Chose to Go Covert to Expose Crime in the Kurdish Population

Two Kurdish-background men agreed to go undercover to uncover a network behind unlawful main street businesses because the criminals are damaging the reputation of Kurds in the UK, they say.

The two, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish journalists who have both resided legally in the UK for many years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and car washes the length of the UK, and wanted to discover more about how it worked and who was participating.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no authorization to work, looking to purchase and run a mini-mart from which to distribute illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to reveal how easy it is for an individual in these situations to start and operate a business on the main street in public view. Those participating, we found, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the operations in their names, helping to fool the government agencies.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to covertly film one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60k imposed on those employing unauthorized workers.

"I aimed to play a role in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they do not characterize our community," states Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the country without authorization, having fled the Kurdish region - a area that straddles the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his well-being was at risk.

The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized migration are high in the United Kingdom and state they have both been concerned that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized working "harms the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he believes obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into the open".

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

He says this particularly affected him when he noticed that radical right activist a prominent activist's national unity protest was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working secretly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the gathering, displaying "we want our nation returned".

The reporters have both been monitoring online response to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin community and say it has sparked strong frustration for certain individuals. One social media comment they found read: "In what way can we find and find [the undercover reporters] to attack them like dogs!"

A different called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered accusations that they were agents for the British government, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish population," Saman says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have compromised its standing. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and extremely concerned about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are fleeing politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that assists asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the UK, struggled for years. He states he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now receive about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which includes food, according to Home Office policies.

"Practically saying, this is not enough to support a acceptable lifestyle," explains the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from working, he feels a significant number are open to being exploited and are essentially "compelled to labor in the unofficial economy for as little as three pounds per hourly rate".

A spokesperson for the Home Office stated: "The government make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the right to be employed - doing so would establish an incentive for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take multiple years to be resolved with nearly a third requiring more than one year, according to government figures from the end of March this year.

Saman states working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely simple to do, but he told the team he would never have done that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his work seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals used their entire money to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these people seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're forbidden to be employed - but simultaneously [you]