People shifters

Post-war labour shortages in the UK led to an open door immigration policy during the 1950s and early 60s. That is when most Mirpuri men, such as my father and grandfather, came to the UK. Having gained a foothold, these early settlers were in an ideal position to bring close relatives to whom they felt obligated.

Mirpuris have a strong sense of responsibility and obligation towards close relatives. Mirpur itself had few economic opportunities. What better way than to arrange for close male relatives to join you in the UK? That would almost instantly lift an entire family out of poverty. So long as the factories and mills had an insatiable appetite for labour, this was easy to do. However, inevitably the open-door policy came to an end. Ever since immigration was first restricted, Mirpuris have been creatively negotiating the labyrinth of legislative and regulatory hurdles. In the main, they have continued to fulfil obligations to close ones.

At first, it was relatively easy. Men began to bring their eldest sons to join them. Then they invited their entire families. In some cases, they brought the children of close relatives, claiming they were their own. Again, this was from an overriding sense of obligation. Those children would work and remit money back to their parents and younger brothers and sisters. In a sense, bringing the children of close relatives was also a way of fulfilling, once and for all, obligations to them. Once those relatives had a foothold in the UK, there was no longer an ongoing obligation to support them. The eldest son would take on that role.

Although immigration policy got tighter, Mirpuris continued to creatively circumnavigate the complexities. Two important routes were used. One was to bring elderly parents. In most cases, this was straight forward. In some cases, people sponsored, as parents, those who were not their real parents (for example, older brothers and sister, uncles, aunts etc). Another route has been through arranged marriage.