The Reasons Our Team Went Undercover to Reveal Crime in the Kurdish-origin Community

Two Kurdish-background men consented to operate secretly to reveal a network behind illegal High Street establishments because the wrongdoers are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the Britain, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both resided legally in the United Kingdom for years.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked illegal enterprise was operating small shops, barbershops and car washes the length of Britain, and sought to learn more about how it operated and who was taking part.

Equipped with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no permission to be employed, seeking to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were successful to uncover how simple it is for an individual in these conditions to establish and operate a business on the commercial area in public view. The individuals participating, we discovered, pay Kurdish individuals who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their identities, enabling to fool the authorities.

Ali and Saman also were able to covertly document one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could remove government penalties of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing unauthorized workers.

"Personally wanted to play a role in revealing these illegal practices [...] to say that they don't speak for Kurdish people," says one reporter, a former asylum seeker personally. Saman entered the United Kingdom 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 journalists admit that tensions over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the UK and say they have both been worried that the investigation could intensify hostilities.

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

Furthermore, Ali explains he was concerned the reporting could be seized upon by the extreme right.

He says this especially affected him when he noticed that far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson's national unity march was occurring in the capital on one of the weekends he was operating covertly. Banners and banners could be spotted at the gathering, showing "we demand our country back".

The reporters have both been observing social media feedback to the investigation from within the Kurdish population and explain it has sparked strong frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook message they observed said: "How can we locate and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"

A different called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also seen accusations that they were informants for the British government, and traitors to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter explains. "Our objective is to reveal those who have harmed its reputation. We are honored of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly troubled about the actions of such individuals."

Most of those applying for refugee status say they are fleeing political persecution, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a charity that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the scenario for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, faced difficulties for many years. He explains he had to survive on less than twenty pounds a per week while his asylum claim was processed.

Asylum seekers now get about £49 a week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in housing which provides food, according to government policies.

"Practically speaking, this is not adequate to sustain a acceptable life," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.

Because asylum seekers are generally restricted from working, he feels a significant number are open to being exploited and are practically "forced to work in the illegal sector for as little as three pounds per hour".

A spokesperson for the authorities stated: "We make no apology for denying asylum seekers the authorization to work - doing so would generate an incentive for individuals to come to the UK without authorization."

Refugee cases can take years to be processed with nearly a third requiring over a year, according to official statistics from the spring this current year.

Saman says working without authorization in a car wash, barbershop or convenience store would have been very easy to do, but he told us he would never have done that.

However, he says that those he met working in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.

"These individuals expended all of their savings to come to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've forfeited their entire investment."

The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.

"When [they] declare you're not allowed to work - but also [you]