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

Two Kurdish-background individuals agreed to work covertly to expose a network behind unlawful commercial enterprises because the wrongdoers are damaging the reputation of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they say.

The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish reporters who have both lived lawfully in the UK for a long time.

The team found that a Kurdish-linked crime network was managing small shops, barbershops and car washes throughout the UK, and wanted to learn more about how it functioned and who was participating.

Prepared with hidden recording devices, Ali and Saman posed as Kurdish asylum seekers with no right to be employed, attempting to purchase and operate a mini-mart from which to trade illegal tobacco products and electronic cigarettes.

The investigators were successful to reveal how easy it is for someone in these conditions to set up and operate a business on the main street in public view. The individuals participating, we found, compensate Kurds who have UK residency to register the operations in their identities, enabling to deceive the authorities.

Saman and Ali also were able to secretly record one of those at the centre of the operation, who claimed that he could erase official penalties of up to £60,000 encountered those employing unauthorized workers.

"I aimed to contribute in uncovering these illegal operations [...] to loudly proclaim that they don't speak for us," says one reporter, a ex- refugee applicant personally. The reporter came to the United Kingdom illegally, having fled Kurdistan - a region that straddles the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not officially recognized as a nation - because his safety was at risk.

The reporters acknowledge that tensions over illegal immigration are significant in the United Kingdom and say they have both been concerned that the probe could worsen conflicts.

But Ali states that the illegal working "harms the whole Kurdish community" and he believes obligated to "reveal it [the criminal network] out into broad daylight".

Furthermore, the journalist mentions he was anxious the reporting could be seized upon by the radical right.

He says this particularly struck him when he realized that extreme right campaigner Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Signs and flags could be spotted at the rally, displaying "we want our country back".

Both journalists have both been tracking online feedback to the exposé from within the Kurdish population and report it has sparked significant frustration for certain individuals. One Facebook post they observed read: "How can we identify and locate [the undercover reporters] to attack them like animals!"

Another demanded their relatives in Kurdistan to be attacked.

They have also encountered claims that they were agents for the British authorities, and betrayers to fellow Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no intention of hurting the Kurdish-origin population," one reporter states. "Our aim is to expose those who have harmed its standing. Both journalists are proud of our Kurdish heritage and profoundly worried about the activities of such persons."

Most of those seeking refugee status state they are escaping politically motivated discrimination, according to an expert from the Refugee Workers Cultural Association, a charity that supports asylum seekers and refugee applicants in the UK.

This was the situation for our undercover journalist Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for many years. He explains he had to live on under £20 a week while his refugee application was reviewed.

Refugee applicants now are provided approximately forty-nine pounds a per week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which includes food, according to government policies.

"Realistically speaking, this is not adequate to sustain a acceptable life," states the expert from the RWCA.

Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from working, he believes a significant number are open to being taken advantage of and are practically "compelled to labor in the black market for as little as £3 per hour".

A representative for the Home Office said: "We make no apology for not granting refugee applicants the authorization to work - doing so would establish an motivation for people to come to the United Kingdom illegally."

Refugee cases can take multiple years to be decided with almost a one-third requiring over 12 months, according to government statistics from the spring this year.

The reporter states being employed illegally in a vehicle cleaning service, hair salon or convenience store would have been extremely easy to accomplish, but he told us he would never have participated in that.

However, he states that those he interviewed laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his investigation seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been refused and who were in the appeal stage.

"These individuals used all their money to travel to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've forfeited all they had."

Ali concurs that these individuals seemed hopeless.

"If [they] declare you're not allowed to work - but simultaneously [you]