Why We Went Undercover to Expose Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background men agreed to go undercover to reveal a operation behind illegal main street businesses because the lawbreakers are causing harm the reputation of Kurds in the Britain, they say.

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

The team found that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was managing small shops, barbershops and car washes throughout the UK, and wanted to learn more about how it operated and who was involved.

Armed with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to work, attempting to acquire and operate a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to discover how straightforward it is for a person in these situations to start and run a business on the commercial area in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, pay Kurds who have UK residency to register the enterprises in their names, enabling to fool the government agencies.

Saman and Ali also managed to covertly film one of those at the core of the organization, who claimed that he could remove government sanctions of up to £60k faced those using illegal laborers.

"Personally aimed to participate in exposing these unlawful operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not characterize Kurdish people," states Saman, a former asylum seeker personally. The reporter entered the country illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a territory that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a state - because his safety was at danger.

The investigators acknowledge that tensions over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been anxious that the investigation could intensify tensions.

But the other reporter says that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he believes compelled to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".

Separately, the journalist mentions he was concerned the publication could be used by the radical right.

He explains this especially impressed him when he discovered that far-right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Signs and banners could be seen at the gathering, reading "we want our nation returned".

The reporters have both been tracking online reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish-origin community and report it has generated intense outrage for certain individuals. One social media message they found read: "How can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"

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

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have harmed its image. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply concerned about the actions of such people."

Most of those seeking refugee status claim they are escaping political discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

This was the case for our covert journalist one investigator, who, when he initially arrived to the UK, struggled for years. He explains he had to live on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now receive approximately £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which offers meals, according to official regulations.

"Realistically stating, this is not adequate to support a respectable life," says the expert from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prevented from working, he feels numerous are susceptible to being manipulated and are effectively "forced to work in the illegal market for as low as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the authorities stated: "We are unapologetic for refusing to grant refugee applicants the authorization to be employed - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to migrate to the UK without authorization."

Asylum cases can require multiple years to be decided with nearly a 33% requiring over one year, according to official data from the end of March this current year.

The reporter states being employed without authorization in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been quite simple to do, but he informed the team he would not have participated in that.

Nevertheless, he states that those he met employed in illegal mini-marts during his work seemed "confused", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeals process.

"They spent all of their savings to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited all they had."

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

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