NEARLY two dozen sex workers have been rounded up by Phnom Penh's Department of Social Affairs and sent to NGOs to learn new skills, officials said Thursday, as an anti-prostitution sweep continues in the capital.

Social affairs official Ban Vutha said that 22 women had been sent to the NGOs Friends International and the Women's Network Organisation.

"We sent them there because we believe they will be able to learn many new skills," he said. "Our department cannot keep them here because we are not able to support them, train them or create jobs for them yet."

The drive to get prostitutes off the streets and into alternative employment was launched on Monday, said Saing Sopheakvichet, deputy governor of Tuol Kork district, adding that the campaign was launched to restore "order in the city".

"Most of the women who get arrested are the same women over and over again, which means our efforts in educating them have been ineffective," he said. "Many of these women take up this job voluntarily because they can earn a lot of money easily."