As many as 160 families living in makeshift homes near the Phnom Penh international airport would be removed as part of the security arrangements for U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Cambodia. local Phnom Penh Post reported Friday.

For fear of losing their homes, a group of residents wrote SOS on their roofs and displayed photos of Obama, appealing for an end to the eviction threat. In response the police arrested eight people on Thursday but released them a few hours later.

Schools are due to be closed and public servants given holidays during Obama's visit as his much-anticipated arrival has been shadowed by security concerns.

Obama will make a three-nation tour to southeast Asia, which will take him to Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia from Nov. 17-20, the White House announced last week.

He arrives in Cambodia on Monday to hold talks with ASEAN leaders and attend East Asia Summit involving the ten-member regional bloc and its eight dialogue countries.

"It will be the first time that the incumbent U.S. President visits Cambodia. More importantly, it will be Obama's first visit overseas after he was re-elected as the U.S. president for a second term," Cambodian government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said.

The participation of the newly re-elected Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the forthcoming 21st ASEAN Summit and related summits will enhance the ASEAN's role in the international arena, Kanharith said.

"The presence of Obama in the forthcoming ASEAN Summits will bring closer ties between all countries in the region and the United States, and each side can learn from each other," he added.