The United Nations is pressuring Cambodian authorities to identify and prosecute the people responsible for trafficking women from Eastern Europe into Cambodia for the purposes of being sex slaves, officials said today.
     A police raid yesterday at a hotel in Phnom Penh freed seven women between the ages of 18 and 23, who were allegedly forced to work as prostitutes. The women are in UN custody and will be returned home upon completion of police investigations.
     "Until we see the outcome (of this case) it is hard to say what we expect," said Marlene Alejos of the UN's human rights monitoring and protection unit. "But we are definitely putting a lot of pressure on the authorities, that's for sure. We are going to work on it ... We will definitely follow up."
     According to Alejos, the women said they had left Eastern Europe voluntarily after being told they would be able to work as dancers at the hotel.
     The owner of the hotel and his manager were briefly detained by police, but they have not been charged and are no longer in police custody (Agence France-Presse, 14 Aug).