Why We Chose to Go Covert to Uncover Criminal Activity in the Kurdish Population

A pair of Kurdish-background men consented to work covertly to uncover a operation behind unlawful High Street enterprises because the wrongdoers are negatively affecting the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they state.

The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin investigators who have both lived legally in the United Kingdom for a long time.

The team uncovered that a Kurdish crime network was managing small shops, hair salons and car washes across Britain, and wanted to learn more about how it worked and who was taking part.

Armed with secret recording devices, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish refugee applicants with no authorization to be employed, seeking to acquire and run a small shop from which to distribute contraband tobacco products and vapes.

The investigators were successful to discover how simple it is for someone in these situations to set up and operate a business on the High Street in plain sight. The individuals participating, we found, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to register the operations in their identities, helping to deceive the authorities.

Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly record one of those at the core of the network, who asserted that he could remove government sanctions of up to £60,000 imposed on those employing unauthorized workers.

"I sought to contribute in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to loudly proclaim that they do not represent us," says Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. Saman came to the UK illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a region that spans the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a state - because his life was at danger.

The reporters admit that tensions over illegal immigration are high in the UK and say they have both been concerned that the inquiry could worsen tensions.

But Ali explains that the illegal working "damages the entire Kurdish-origin community" and he considers obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was anxious the publication could be exploited by the extreme right.

He states this especially struck him when he realized that radical right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity protest was happening in the capital on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was operating covertly. Signs and banners could be spotted at the rally, showing "we demand our nation back".

Saman and Ali have both been tracking social media reaction to the inquiry from inside the Kurdish community and explain it has sparked strong outrage for certain individuals. One Facebook comment they found said: "How can we locate and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

One more demanded their families in Kurdistan to be harmed.

They have also encountered allegations that they were spies for the UK authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not spies, and we have no aim of harming the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter says. "Our objective is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish-origin heritage and profoundly worried about the activities of such individuals."

Most of those applying for asylum state they are fleeing political persecution, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a organization that supports refugees and refugee applicants in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first arrived to the UK, struggled for many years. He says he had to survive on less than £20 a per week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Asylum seekers now are provided about £49 a per week - or £9.95 if they are in accommodation which includes meals, according to official guidance.

"Honestly speaking, this is not enough to sustain a dignified existence," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are susceptible to being exploited and are practically "forced to labor in the illegal sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A representative for the Home Office said: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would generate an incentive for people to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Asylum cases can take multiple years to be processed with approximately a one-third taking over 12 months, according to government figures from the end of March this current year.

The reporter says working illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or convenience store would have been quite simple to achieve, but he informed us he would never have engaged in that.

However, he states that those he met laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose asylum claim has been denied and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals spent all of their savings to migrate to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited everything."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"If [they] say you're not allowed to work - but also [you]