News Agency
Two Kurdish men agreed to operate secretly to expose a network behind unlawful commercial businesses because the lawbreakers are causing harm the standing of Kurdish people in the United Kingdom, they state.
The pair, who we are calling Saman and Ali, are Kurdish investigators who have both lived legally in the UK for a long time.
The team discovered that a Kurdish illegal enterprise was operating mini-marts, hair salons and car washes throughout the United Kingdom, and aimed to learn more about how it operated and who was participating.
Prepared with covert cameras, Ali and Saman presented themselves as Kurdish-origin refugee applicants with no right to work, attempting to acquire and run a mini-mart from which to distribute contraband cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.
The investigators were able to reveal how simple it is for an individual in these circumstances to establish and operate a commercial operation on the main street in plain sight. The individuals involved, we learned, pay Kurdish individuals who have British citizenship to register the enterprises in their identities, helping to fool the authorities.
Ali and Saman also managed to discreetly film one of those at the centre of the operation, who asserted that he could eliminate government sanctions of up to £60k imposed on those employing illegal laborers.
"Personally wanted to contribute in exposing these illegal practices [...] to declare that they don't represent Kurdish people," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant himself. The reporter entered the country illegally, having escaped from Kurdistan - a territory that spans the boundaries of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria but which is not globally acknowledged as a nation - because his safety was at threat.
The reporters admit that disagreements over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and state they have both been anxious that the probe could intensify hostilities.
But Ali explains that the unauthorized working "negatively affects the entire Kurdish population" and he considers obligated to "bring it [the criminal network] out into public view".
Furthermore, Ali says he was worried the coverage could be used by the far-right.
He says this notably affected him when he realized that radical right activist a prominent activist's national unity march was occurring in London on one of the Saturdays and Sundays he was working covertly. Signs and banners could be seen at the rally, displaying "we demand our nation back".
Saman and Ali have both been observing online reaction to the inquiry from within the Kurdish-origin community and explain it has generated strong anger for certain individuals. One social media post they spotted read: "In what way can we identify and track [the undercover reporters] to harm them like dogs!"
One more called for their relatives in Kurdistan to be harmed.
They have also read allegations that they were agents for the British government, and traitors to other Kurds. "Both of us are not spies, and we have no desire of damaging the Kurdish-origin community," one reporter explains. "Our goal is to uncover those who have damaged its reputation. We are proud of our Kurdish heritage and extremely troubled about the activities of such individuals."
The majority of those seeking asylum state they are fleeing political oppression, according to Ibrahim Avicil from the a refugee support organization, a organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.
This was the case for our undercover reporter one investigator, who, when he initially came to the UK, faced difficulties for many years. He says he had to live on under twenty pounds a week while his refugee application was reviewed.
Refugee applicants now receive about £49 a week - or £9.95 if they are in housing which provides food, according to official guidance.
"Practically speaking, this isn't enough to sustain a respectable life," explains Mr Avicil from the the organization.
Because asylum seekers are mostly prohibited from working, he believes a significant number are open to being exploited and are essentially "obligated to work in the black sector for as little as £3 per hour".
A representative for the government department commented: "We do not apologize for not granting refugee applicants the permission to work - doing so would create an incentive for individuals to travel to the United Kingdom without authorization."
Asylum applications can take a long time to be processed with approximately a 33% requiring more than a year, according to official data from the late March this year.
Saman says working without authorization in a vehicle cleaning service, barbershop or mini-mart would have been very straightforward to accomplish, but he told us he would not have participated in that.
Nonetheless, he says that those he interviewed laboring in illegal convenience stores during his research seemed "confused", particularly those whose asylum claim has been refused and who were in the legal challenge.
"These individuals used all their funds to come to the United Kingdom, they had their refugee application refused and now they've lost all they had."
The other reporter agrees that these people seemed desperate.
"When [they] state you're prohibited to work - but simultaneously [you]
