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

A pair of Kurdish individuals consented to go undercover to reveal a organization behind illegal commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are causing harm the reputation of Kurdish people in the Britain, they explain.

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

Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was running convenience stores, hair salons and vehicle cleaning services throughout the UK, and aimed to find out more about how it worked and who was involved.

Armed with hidden cameras, Saman and Ali presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no permission to be employed, looking to buy and run a mini-mart from which to sell contraband tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

They were able to uncover how straightforward it is for a person in these conditions to set up and manage a business on the High Street in public view. Those participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the businesses in their identities, enabling to fool the officials.

Saman and Ali also were able to discreetly film one of those at the centre of the organization, who claimed that he could eliminate official fines of up to sixty thousand pounds encountered those employing illegal workers.

"I aimed to participate in uncovering these illegal practices [...] to say that they do not represent us," states one reporter, a former asylum seeker himself. Saman came to the UK illegally, having escaped from the Kurdish region - a area that covers the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a state - because his life was at danger.

The investigators recognize that disagreements over unauthorized immigration are elevated in the United Kingdom and say they have both been anxious that the investigation could intensify conflicts.

But the other reporter explains that the illegal employment "harms the whole Kurdish population" and he believes obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Additionally, Ali mentions he was anxious the coverage could be exploited by the extreme right.

He explains this particularly struck him when he noticed that far-right activist a prominent activist's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working covertly. Banners and banners could be seen at the rally, showing "we demand our nation back".

Both journalists have both been observing online reaction to the exposé from within the Kurdish-origin population and say it has generated strong anger for some. One Facebook comment they found said: "How can we identify and find [the undercover reporters] to harm them like animals!"

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

They have also read claims that they were agents for the UK government, and traitors to fellow Kurds. "Both of us are not informants, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish community," Saman explains. "Our goal is to reveal those who have compromised its reputation. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and deeply troubled about the actions of such individuals."

The majority of those seeking refugee status claim they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a charitable organization, a organization that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.

This was the case for our undercover journalist one investigator, who, when he initially came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He states he had to live on less than twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was considered.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in shelter which offers meals, according to official guidance.

"Realistically speaking, this is not sufficient to sustain a acceptable existence," states Mr Avicil from the the organization.

Because refugee applicants are largely prevented from working, he feels a significant number are open to being exploited and are effectively "forced to work in the illegal market for as low as three pounds per hour".

A official for the Home Office stated: "The government make no apology for refusing to grant asylum seekers the permission to be employed - granting this would generate an reason for people to come to the UK illegally."

Refugee applications can take a long time to be processed with almost a one-third requiring more than one year, according to government statistics from the late March this current year.

Saman states being employed illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely simple to do, but he told the team he would never have engaged in that.

Nonetheless, he explains that those he encountered laboring in illegal convenience stores during his investigation seemed "lost", especially those whose asylum claim has been rejected and who were in the legal challenge.

"They expended all their funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their asylum denied and now they've lost their entire investment."

Ali acknowledges that these people seemed in dire straits.

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