There have been occasional campaigns against prostitution in Phnom Penh in recent years but the business continues to thrive. Chea Sophara said there were an estimated 3,000 prostitutes from Vietnam in Phnom Penh, about half the total number, with smaller numbers of sex workers from other countries. City authorities will coordinate their campaign with the foreign and interior ministries. Foreign prostitutes will be expelled, he said.
Prostitution is illegal but widespread in Cambodia.
Recent research found that nearly 50 percent of women in brothels nationwide are infected with the HIV virus and men are passing it on to their wives.