Fifteen Chinese nationals were placed under house arrest in Chamkarmon district Tuesday after police discovered that none of them had passports, municipal foreign police Chief Pol Pithiey said.
Police said the 15 men entered Cambodia through Pochentong Airport Sept 14 to work for a private construction company.
“They did not report to the local authorities during their stay [at a rental house on Street 440]. And now we are researching to find out who is holding their passports, because if they are workers, then why didn’t they hold their own passports?” Pol Pithiey said. “We are not clear about all this. There is complete confusion and we need to investigate this case more.”
Deputy municipal police Chief Moung Khim said police are checking to see if the 15 men were using counterfeit passports when they passed through Pochentong. A Chinese Embassy official said the embassy is “now investigating…whether it is true or not” that the men entered Cambodia illegally.
Hundreds of illegal Chinese immigrants were arrested and eventually deported in late 1999 following the breakup of a massive human smuggling ring thought to bring in tens of thousands of dollars each month.
