Why We Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

A pair of Kurdish-background individuals decided to work covertly to uncover a network behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the criminals are damaging the standing of Kurds in the United Kingdom, they explain.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team discovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was operating small shops, barbershops and vehicle cleaning services the length of the UK, and wanted to find out more about how it worked and who was involved.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no authorization to be employed, looking to buy and run a convenience store from which to trade illegal tobacco products and vapes.

They were successful to reveal how simple it is for someone in these circumstances to start and operate a enterprise on the main street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their identities, helping to mislead the authorities.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly film one of those at the heart of the operation, who claimed that he could remove government penalties of up to £60k faced those employing illegal laborers.

"Personally aimed to participate in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to say that they do not represent Kurdish people," explains Saman, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the country illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his safety was at threat.

The reporters acknowledge that conflicts over illegal immigration are significant in the UK and explain they have both been anxious that the investigation could worsen tensions.

But the other reporter states that the unauthorized labor "negatively affects the entire Kurdish community" and he believes driven to "bring it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, the journalist mentions he was worried the reporting could be exploited by the radical right.

He says this especially affected him when he discovered that radical right activist Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating undercover. Placards and flags could be observed at the rally, reading "we want our country returned".

The reporters have both been tracking social media feedback to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has sparked intense outrage for some. One Facebook post they found stated: "In what way can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like dogs!"

Another urged their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also read allegations that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of hurting the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter says. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its image. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply worried about the actions of such people."

Most of those seeking asylum claim they are escaping political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a organization that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he first arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He states he had to live on less than twenty pounds a per week while his refugee application was considered.

Asylum seekers now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to official guidance.

"Practically saying, this is not sufficient to sustain a dignified life," explains the expert from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally prevented from working, he believes many are susceptible to being taken advantage of and are practically "obligated to work in the black economy for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the Home Office stated: "The government do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the right to work - doing so would create an motivation for individuals to travel to the UK without authorization."

Asylum applications can take multiple years to be decided with nearly a one-third requiring more than one year, according to government statistics from the end of March this current year.

The reporter explains being employed without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or mini-mart would have been extremely simple to achieve, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he explains that those he encountered employed in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the appeals process.

"These individuals spent all their savings to come to the UK, they had their asylum refused and now they've sacrificed their entire investment."

The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed in dire straits.

"If [they] state you're prohibited to be employed - but also [you]