Thirteen Vietnamese nationals and one Briton were arrested on Wednesday in Siem Reap town for residing in Cambodia illegally, police said yesterday.

Chea Kimsan, chief of Siem Reap immigration police, said the crackdown on five communes that uncovered the foreigners was led by deputy provincial prosecutor Samreth Sokhom.

“We started the raid at 6pm [and it lasted] until 11:30pm on Wednesday night, [checking] restaurants, massage shops and rental rooms in Slakram, Sala Kamroeuk, Kokchak, Sra Nge and Svay

Dangkum communes. Fourteen people were found to be living in the city without any legal documents,” he said.

“They told us that they lived in Cambodia many years already and they moved from place to place. Some of them have their passports, but they’re expired, and some have nothing,” he added.

British national Andrew Julien Fran told police that he had lost his passport four months ago, but did not file a complaint to local police, Kimsan said. Fran, who said he had been in Siem Reap for about two years and was the boyfriend of a Vietnamese woman who was also brought in by police.

Fran and three of the Vietnamese nationals with no travel documents are slated to be sent to the Immigration Department in Phnom Penh, while 10 of the Vietnamese nationals will be allowed to return to Vietnam on their own within the next 30 days.

“We will let them go to their country by themselves after making a contract, and we will keep our eyes on them,” Kimsan said.

Kimsan said the crackdown on undocumented foreigners will continue until every commune in the city has been checked.