Amid a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants, National Police commissioner Neth Savoeun has ordered the creation of 89 district-level immigration units across Cambodia.

Deputy National Police commissioner Sok Phal, who also heads the police’s General Department of Immigration, yesterday said the move – quietly unveiled on Friday – will make policing immigration issues more efficient than the current system, which depended on a central office in each province.

“It will make work easier for some of the local officials in charge,” Phal said.

“They will be able to work immediately, without waiting for officials from the provincial office to arrive in their area.”

The main duties of officers in the 89 units will be to conduct censuses, weed out illegal immigrants and protect foreigners’ safety, Phal said.

General Department of Immigration investigations chief Ouk Hai Seyla yesterday praised the initiative, saying that it will help energise the crackdown on illegal immigration, which he says has seen “more than 100 Vietnamese nationals” arrested and deported this month.