The large number of Mirpuris in the United Kingdom has many causes. Mirpur was considered to be a conservative district in 1960s, and life in its rural villages was dominated by rigid hierarchies. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Government of Pakistan planned the Mangla Dam, which was to be built in the Mirpur area. Several thousand people had to move. Coincidentally, Britain at that time needed cheap workers, mainly for textile factories as British workers had begun to become expensive due to rising wages. Up to 5,000 people from Mirpur (5% of the displaced) left for Britain, and the displaced Mirpuris were given legal and financial assistance by the British contractor that built the dam.