A/50/476 English Page 9 5. The main causes of the problems encountered by domestic employees are the practices of employment agencies in the countries of origin; these agencies exploit their recruits and give them inaccurate information about the tasks awaiting them in the countries in which they are to work, which explains some of the difficulties. 6. Since Kuwait applies the laws of the market and imposes no restrictions on transfers of funds by foreign workers, remittances from such workers to their families have become one of the main sources of income for their countries of origin, making a substantial contribution to the growth of national economies and, in the view of the leaders of these countries, to the improvement of the standards of living of the employees themselves. 7. Aware of their responsibilities towards this category of workers, the Kuwaiti authorities are endeavouring to ensure decent living conditions for them within Kuwaiti society and to protect their rights. An outline of the provisions adopted in this area follows: (a) In 1993, the Council of Ministers adopted decree No. 320/1993 establishing a commission consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of the Interior, of Social Affairs and Labour, of Information and of Trade; the commission’s mandate is to consider all the problems posed by the employment of domestic workers and to establish general guidelines with a view to a definitive solution of these problems that would take into account legal and humanitarian considerations. The Commission transmitted to the Council of Ministers numerous recommendations on the basis of which the latter adopted decree No. 387/93, in which it: - Requested the Ministries of Finance and of the Interior to study to what extent it would be possible to advance to each domestic worker an amount corresponding to the cost of travel back to his country and then claim reimbursement from his employer. Thus in July 1993, the State paid for the travel of 400 domestic workers; - Instructed the Ministry of Trade and Industry to prosecute agencies whose activities consist of bringing in domestic workers in violation of the regulations and laws in force and of their obligations under the licences granted to them. (b) The Ministry of the Interior has established a new unit dealing with employment agencies for domestic workers whose task is to reorganize the sector and safeguard the rights of employees, both while they are in service and following the expiry of their contracts, taking into account the responsibilities of the employer, who must, inter alia, pay the employee’s wages and cover his travel costs. (c) In order to guarantee the rights of this category of employees, Act No. 40 of 1993 concerning the reorganization of employment agencies and /...