The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Uncover Crime in the Kurdish-origin Population

Two Kurdish individuals consented to work covertly to uncover a organization behind illegal commercial establishments because the lawbreakers are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

The pair, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived legally in the UK for a long time.

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

Equipped with covert recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no permission to work, seeking to acquire and manage a convenience store from which to sell contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to reveal how simple it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and run a commercial operation on the High Street in full view. Those involved, we learned, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, assisting to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also were able to covertly document one of those at the heart of the organization, who asserted that he could erase government fines of up to £60,000 faced those hiring unauthorized laborers.

"Personally aimed to contribute in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for us," states one reporter, a ex- asylum seeker himself. Saman entered the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that spans the borders of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not internationally recognised as a state - because his safety was at risk.

The reporters admit that conflicts over illegal migration are significant in the UK and say they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify conflicts.

But the other reporter says that the illegal working "damages the entire Kurdish population" and he feels obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into the open".

Furthermore, the journalist says he was worried the publication could be used by the radical right.

He states this particularly struck him when he discovered that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest was happening in London on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Banners and banners could be observed at the gathering, reading "we demand our country back".

The reporters have both been tracking social media reaction to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and explain it has caused intense anger for certain individuals. One social media message they found said: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

Another called for their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the British authorities, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no desire of harming the Kurdish-origin population," Saman states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish-origin identity and deeply concerned about the behavior of such people."

The majority of those seeking asylum say they are escaping politically motivated persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a charity that assists asylum seekers and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the situation for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he initially arrived to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He states he had to live on under twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now get approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to official policies.

"Practically speaking, this isn't enough to maintain a dignified life," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because asylum seekers are generally prohibited from employment, he believes a significant number are susceptible to being exploited and are essentially "forced to labor in the black sector for as little as £3 per hourly rate".

A representative for the authorities said: "The government make no apology for not granting asylum seekers the authorization to be employed - doing so would establish an reason for individuals to come to the UK illegally."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be resolved with nearly a one-third taking over one year, according to government data from the late March this year.

Saman says being employed illegally in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very easy to accomplish, but he explained to the team he would never have participated in that.

However, he explains that those he met laboring in unauthorized convenience stores during his research seemed "lost", notably those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.

"They spent their entire funds to travel to the UK, they had their asylum rejected and now they've lost everything."

The other reporter agrees that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] say you're prohibited to work - but simultaneously [you]