The Reasons Our Team Chose to Go Covert to Reveal Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background men decided to work covertly to uncover a organization behind unlawful High Street establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurdish people in the Britain, they say.

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

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services throughout Britain, and wanted to find out more about how it worked and who was participating.

Armed with secret recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to work, looking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to sell illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The investigators were able to uncover how easy it is for an individual in these circumstances to start and manage a business on the High Street in full view. The individuals involved, we discovered, compensate Kurdish individuals who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, helping to deceive the officials.

Ali and Saman also were able to secretly document one of those at the centre of the network, who stated that he could eliminate government penalties of up to £60,000 imposed on those employing unauthorized employees.

"Personally aimed to play a role in exposing these illegal activities [...] to declare that they do not characterize our community," explains one reporter, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter came to the country illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a state - because his well-being was at risk.

The reporters acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are high in the UK and say they have both been anxious that the inquiry could intensify conflicts.

But Ali explains that the illegal labor "negatively affects the whole Kurdish community" and he considers compelled to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, Ali says he was anxious the coverage could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He says this particularly struck him when he realized that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom rally was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Placards and banners could be seen at the rally, showing "we demand our country returned".

Both journalists have both been observing social media reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish-origin population and say it has sparked significant outrage for some. One social media message they spotted stated: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another urged their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish community," one reporter says. "Our aim is to uncover those who have damaged its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and extremely worried about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those seeking asylum say they are escaping political discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than £20 a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

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

"Practically speaking, this is not adequate to sustain a dignified existence," says the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are generally prohibited from employment, he feels many are susceptible to being exploited and are practically "compelled to work in the unofficial economy for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A official for the government department said: "We do not apologize for denying refugee applicants the permission to work - doing so would establish an reason for people to migrate to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can require multiple years to be resolved with approximately a one-third taking more than a year, according to government data from the spring this year.

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

However, he says that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "confused", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeals process.

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

Ali concurs that these people seemed hopeless.

"When [they] state you're not allowed to work - but simultaneously [you]