Police from the Ministry of Interior yesterday arrested more than 100 Vietnamese people suspected of illegally living and working in Cambodia in the second such mass roundup in the capital this week.

The 109 Vietnamese nationals taken into custody in the capital’s Chbar Ampov district were working as mechanics, machinists or other professions, said Ouk Hay Seila, head of the General Department of Immigration’s Investigation Department.

Most of those arrested presented resident documents, Hay Seila said, but investigators are looking into whether they are genuine or fake.

“We only found seven people with passports, and 11 other people had no documents at all,” Hay Seila said yesterday.

“Most of them have documents, but we are checking if they are real, or if they conspired with local authorities to get them.”

All of those who possessed passports were in Cambodia on tourist visas, and thus not allowed to work in the Kingdom, Hay Seila said.

These people will be deported back to Vietnam.

Yesterday’s arrests occurred just two days after 131 Vietnamese people were detained at a construction site on Koh Pich.

Of those picked up during that sweep, 94 possessed no documents permitting them to work in Cambodia, and Hay Seila’s department is asking higher-ups in the Interior Ministry for permission to deport them.

These 94 are currently in custody and being questioned.