E/CN.4/1997/71/Add.2 page 13 51. The 651 prisoners of war being held in Iraq include about 100 Bidun. Their families receive 70 per cent of their pay, and the remaining 30 per cent is held in escrow for them. They receive US$ 1,500 per month from the POW committee, which also guarantees them free social services. 52. The persons interviewed by the Special Rapporteur told him that, since the liberation, many Bidun had admitted their true nationality in order to obtain a residence permit, and that the Government encourages Bidun to register their nationality in order to formalize their situation; as a result, it is estimated that the number of Bidun has dropped from 250,000 to about 120,000. In cases where the Government does not grant them naturalization, it assists them in acquiring the nationality of some other country with which it conducts negotiations with a view to ensuring a continuing supply of the foreign manpower it needs. 53. In reply to the Special Rapporteur's question whether the Bidun were a homogeneous, indigenous group and/or made up of Arabs from the Gulf, he was told that while most of them were Arabs, some were Iranians, Iraqis or Asians. In any case, all those who were unable to produce documents proving that they had been in Kuwait before 1920 or included in the 1965 census are regarded as undocumented and are termed “illegal residents”. Some of them, therefore, are stateless in their own country. 54. The allegation that the Bidun are confined to a particular region of the country, a “no man's land” between Kuwait and Iraq, was categorically denied. “If we didn't trust them, why would we place them in such a strategic area?” asked one of those interviewed by the Special Rapporteur, adding that there were no restrictions on the Bidun's movements; some of them, of course, lived in poor neighbourhoods, but “only for financial reasons”. Others, on the contrary, were very rich and ran large businesses, using Kuwaitis as front men; those who were members of the army or public service employees were sometimes better paid than Kuwaitis. Some had requested naturalization, and their applications were under consideration. 55. Prior to the invasion, Bidun accounted for 80 per cent of the Kuwaiti army. In a speech before the National Assembly, the Second Deputy Prime Minister stated that many of them had allied themselves with the invader and, as a result, had fled to Iraq, the country from which most of them had come. Others had fought on the Kuwaiti side and therefore had the right to live in the country. 56. Some claim that the Bidun had been suspected of treason and therefore ousted from the army, had forfeited all their social rights, including the right to education and to free medical care, and were unable to find jobs. D. Detention 57. During the Special Rapporteur's visit to the Talha prison, he spoke with Bidun who were being detained while awaiting a ruling on possible expulsion. Other prisoners included “stateless” Bidun and residents - foreigners who had entered the country clandestinely in work. met and their “illegal” search of