News Agency
Two Kurdish-background men consented to go undercover to reveal a operation behind illegal High Street establishments because the criminals are causing harm the image of Kurdish people in the UK, they explain.
The two, who we are referring to as Saman and Ali, are Kurdish-origin journalists who have both lived lawfully in the United Kingdom for years.
Investigators uncovered that a Kurdish-linked crime network was running mini-marts, barbershops and car washes the length of the UK, and sought to discover more about how it operated and who was taking part.
Prepared with secret cameras, Saman and Ali posed as Kurdish refugee applicants with no right to work, seeking to buy and manage a mini-mart from which to sell unlawful cigarettes and vapes.
The investigators were able to uncover how simple it is for a person in these situations to set up and run a enterprise on the commercial area in full view. The individuals involved, we discovered, pay Kurds who have UK citizenship to legally establish the enterprises in their names, enabling to deceive the government agencies.
Saman and Ali also managed to discreetly record one of those at the centre of the network, who claimed that he could remove official sanctions of up to £60,000 encountered those hiring illegal employees.
"I aimed to play a role in revealing these unlawful practices [...] to declare that they don't represent us," explains Saman, a former refugee applicant personally. Saman came to the UK without authorization, having escaped from Kurdistan - a area that spans the boundaries of multiple Middle Eastern countries but which is not officially recognized as a country - because his well-being was at threat.
The reporters recognize that conflicts over unauthorized migration are elevated in the United Kingdom and explain they have both been anxious that the probe could inflame conflicts.
But the other reporter states that the unauthorized employment "damages the whole Kurdish-origin population" and he considers obligated to "expose it [the criminal network] out into public view".
Separately, Ali explains he was concerned the reporting could be exploited by the far-right.
He says this particularly impressed him when he discovered that extreme right activist Tommy Robinson's national unity rally was occurring in London on one of the weekends he was working secretly. Banners and flags could be observed at the protest, showing "we demand our country back".
Saman and Ali have both been monitoring social media reaction to the exposé from inside the Kurdish community and report it has sparked strong anger for certain individuals. One Facebook message they observed said: "How can we find and locate [the undercover reporters] to kill them like animals!"
One more urged their families in the Kurdish region to be attacked.
They have also encountered claims that they were informants for the British authorities, and betrayers to other Kurdish people. "We are not informants, and we have no aim of damaging the Kurdish community," one reporter states. "Our aim is to uncover those who have harmed its reputation. Both journalists are honored of our Kurdish heritage and deeply concerned about the activities of such persons."
The majority of those seeking refugee status claim they are fleeing political oppression, according to an expert from the a charitable organization, a charity that assists refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom.
This was the scenario for our covert reporter Saman, who, when he first came to the United Kingdom, struggled for years. He states he had to survive on under twenty pounds a week while his asylum claim was reviewed.
Refugee applicants now receive approximately £49 a per week - or nine pounds ninety-five if they are in accommodation which provides food, according to official policies.
"Realistically speaking, this is not sufficient to maintain a acceptable life," says Mr Avicil from the RWCA.
Because refugee applicants are mostly restricted from working, he believes many are vulnerable to being exploited and are essentially "forced to work in the black sector for as low as three pounds per hour".
A spokesperson for the government department stated: "The government do not apologize for denying asylum seekers the right to be employed - doing so would establish an motivation for individuals to come to the United Kingdom illegally."
Asylum cases can require a long time to be processed with approximately a one-third requiring over 12 months, according to official figures from the late March this year.
The reporter says working illegally in a car wash, hair salon or convenience store would have been very straightforward to do, but he told us he would not have done that.
Nevertheless, he says that those he encountered laboring in unauthorized mini-marts during his research seemed "disoriented", particularly those whose refugee application has been denied and who were in the appeal stage.
"They used all their funds to travel to the UK, they had their refugee application rejected and now they've sacrificed everything."
The other reporter acknowledges that these individuals seemed hopeless.
"If [they] state you're forbidden to be employed - but simultaneously [you]
