The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Expose Criminal Activity in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish men consented to operate secretly to reveal a operation behind unlawful High Street establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the UK, they say.

The pair, who we are calling Ali and Saman, are Kurdish journalists who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for years.

Investigators found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was running small shops, barbershops and car washes throughout the United Kingdom, and aimed to discover more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with secret cameras, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, seeking to acquire and operate a small shop from which to distribute illegal cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how simple it is for an individual in these conditions to start and operate a business on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals involved, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their names, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also succeeded to secretly film one of those at the heart of the organization, who stated that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to £60k encountered those employing unauthorized workers.

"I sought to play a role in uncovering these unlawful operations [...] to say that they do not speak for us," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the country illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that straddles the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a nation - because his life was at danger.

The reporters acknowledge that conflicts over illegal immigration are high in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could worsen conflicts.

But Ali explains that the unauthorized working "damages the entire Kurdish-origin population" and he considers driven to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist explains he was concerned the publication could be exploited by the extreme right.

He says this particularly affected him when he realized that radical right campaigner a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom rally was taking place in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working undercover. Signs and flags could be seen at the gathering, showing "we want our nation returned".

Both journalists have both been observing social media response to the exposé from within the Kurdish community and say it has sparked significant anger for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found stated: "In what way can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

One more called for their relatives in the Kurdish region to be slaughtered.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the British authorities, and traitors to other Kurds. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish population," Saman explains. "Our goal is to reveal those who have harmed its image. We are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and extremely troubled about the activities of such people."

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

This was the case for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for years. He says he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was processed.

Refugee applicants now are provided about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to official guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this isn't sufficient to support a respectable life," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are largely prevented from employment, he believes many are vulnerable to being manipulated and are effectively "forced to work in the illegal economy for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the Home Office said: "We do not apologize for refusing to grant asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would create an motivation for people to travel to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can take years to be processed with almost a 33% taking more than a year, according to official figures from the spring this current year.

Saman explains working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or mini-mart would have been quite simple to achieve, but he informed us he would not have engaged in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used their entire money to migrate to the UK, they had their refugee application denied and now they've lost everything."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

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