KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Kuwait said on Sunday it has deported around 1,000 Bangladeshi workers following violent protests over pay but will also crack down on recruitment agents and employers who exploit the labourers. "The number does not exceed 1,000. They are those who staged riots," Social Affairs and Labour Minister Bader al-Duwaila was quoted by the state KUNA news agency as telling reporters when asked about the number of Bangladeshis expelled in the wake of last week's protests. Duwaila, who was speaking after a meeting with parliament's human rights committee, said his Ministry had posted delegates at Kuwait airport to ensure that the deported workers receive the wages they are owed before leaving. Hundreds of Bangladeshi workers held demonstrations last week to demand better pay and living conditions. The protests, some violent, lasted several days, with riot policemen using batons to break up a rally northwest of the capital last Monday. Kuwait, like other oil-rich Arab states in the Gulf, relies heavily on Asian labour. About 200,000 Bangladeshis work in the emirate, mostly as cleaners and in other low-paid jobs. Thousands have gone on strike in recent months complaining of non-payment of salaries or delays in obtaining their wages as well as inhuman working conditions. The government has warned it will not tolerate violence, but Duwaila said on Sunday it was equally determined to crack down on "visa merchants", a reference to agents who recruit Asian labour and violate the terms of the work contracts once the workers are in Kuwait. He said he was under orders from the leadership to "cut the hand" of any such agent, "be he a sheikh (from the ruling family) or a merchant". Companies that violate contract terms will also be penalised, he said. Duwaila said the cabinet would on Monday discuss his recommendation to raise the minimum wage of security guards to 70 dinars ($265) and that of cleaners to 40 dinars ($151) from the current 30 dinars ($114). The parliamentary human rights committee backed calls by MPs on Sunday to hold a special session of the house in early September to discuss problems related to the expatriate labour force in the country.