Lam Nguyen, 25, a member of a Khmer ethnic minority group, was arrested on September 4 outside the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Phnom Penh, said Chhay Sinarith, Director of the Cambodian Interior Ministry's Information Department.

According to Mr Sinarith, Lam Nguyen had illegally brought three ethnic minority highlanders from Vietnam to Phnom Penh via Kompong Trach district in Kampot province. The suspect admitted that he had taken at least seven highlanders to the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh since July, 2006 in return for thousands of US dollars. Four of the seven people had been transported through Koh Thom district in Kandal province on July 9 for a payment of US$1,500.

The Cambodian official added that the police had seized records of cash remittances which proved that ethnic minority highlanders residing in the US had paid those who brought ethnic minority people from the Central Highlands to the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman from the Phnom Penh UNHCR Office, Deborah Backus, said that Lam Nguyen came to the UNHCR office to apply for refugee status, but an interview proved that he was a Khmer Krom and therefore not able to claim refugee status.

The Cambodian police on September 9 launched an investigation into the cases of those involved in illegally bringing Vietnamese highlanders to Phnom Penh.