Cambodian survivors of the Mahantdorai, the Cambodian Holocaust, are among the most traumatized people in the world today. They have experienced a quarter of a century of destruction that has included civil war, the massive secret bombing by the United States, and years of captivity in the Pol Pot Regime. They have endured torture, starvation, slave labor, brainwashing, and exposure to atrocities and disease. Those who escaped Cambodia experienced years of isolation, deprivation and abuse in refugee camps; and with little more than the clothing on their backs, came to the United States which had no established Cambodian communities and few resources for dealing with the culture , language and trauma of these new arrivals.

Today, Cambodian adults have one of the highest disability rates in the United States. The Urban Institute reports that 22,460 Cambodians were receiving Social Security Income as of December of 1995. At least 15% of Cambodians, age 16 to 64, are disabled, more than 4 times the rate of the general population of the United States. Forty two percent of Cambodian families are living below the poverty level compared to 13% of the general population and more than 50% of Cambodian adults are not in the workforce.

Although extreme, these numbers are historically consistent with the statistics of survivors of concentration camps and prisoners of war. These dramatic numbers should have been a signal of a health crisis in the Cambodian community. Instead, they were used by lawmakers as the rationale for denying financial aid and health care to elderly and disabled refugees. Lawmakers who were conferees on the final version of the Welfare Reform Bill had full knowledge of the health problems of Cambodians when they removed them from eligibility for SSI and health care. They did this by simply changing their name from refugee to legal alien, as if the title of alien could wipe out three decades of history. Borrowing a concept from the Khmer Rouge, these lawmakers essentially declared, "to keep you is no gain; to lose you is no loss." History tell us that Cambodian refugees came to the United States, not as immigrants seeking a better life, but as victims of war and genocide. While the American people showed great compassion for Cambodians in camps, the decisions about refugee quotas were based as much on international political pressures and long term strategic goals as they were on generousity.

Cambodian survivors have most certainly been victimized as political pawns in the international power struggle. Ironically, the Senate passed its version of the Welfare Reform Bill on the same day that it awarded a $1,000,000 grant to make a documentary archive of the stories of another group of survivors of genocide, the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. This grant was heralded as an essential effort to assure that no one forgets the important lessons of the history of that holocaust. And yet, the most documented lessons of that holocaust, the lesson taught by fifty years of the medical research of Concentration Camp Survivors was indeed forgotten, for this data clearly indicates that the concentration camp experiences produce illness, disabilities and early death. Since World War II, the study of survivors of Nazi Concentration Camps and Prisoners of War have established that there are commonalities of experiences that are at the root of severe and disabling health problems in survivors. Man's inhumanity to man has been demonstrated in what seems to be limitless forms of atrocities and cruelties, and yet, these acts can be classified in a relatively limited list of headings which include, inflicting injury to the body or mind of the victim through starvation, forced labor, torture, terrorization, and exposure of the victim to atrocities or disease. Studies funded by the U.S. government clearly establish the similarities of experience, as well as of the post trauma state of Cambodian survivors, Concentration Camp Survivors and prisoners of war. The 1990 census documents 147,400 Cambodians in the United States . Of this number, 70,000 are children or adolescents; 22,460 are elderly or disabled. The remaining 55,000 Cambodian adults includes 12,000 widows with children. More than 36,000 adults have had less than an elementary school education and are able to communicate only marginally in English. Thirty Seven percent of Cambodian households make less than $12,000 a year and 47% make less than $20,000. These figures clearly show that it is beyond the realm of possibility for Cambodian families to provide health care or financial support for the approximately 22,460 disabled or elderly in their communities who will lose their financial aid and health care within the next year.

Khmer Health Advocates believes that the Welfare Reform Act in its present state will be responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of Cambodian holocaust survivors. Deaths will be due to a critical increase in stressors in people who have already expended their reserves of endurance. They will also be due to a loss of medication and treatment for hypertension, anxiety, depression and PTSD and numerous other health conditions that are a direct result of trauma. Cambodian Survivors face the terrible reality of being sick and disabled in a society that is fascinated by violence but bored by suffering. The United States Congress without conscience legislated the abandonment of a people who have known suffering beyond human comprehension. They did this without discussion or plans for transitional services that could avert tragedy. The moral and psychological implications of these actions are sure to haunt a nation that has clearly made a commitment to "never again" tolerate genocide. And yet, without health care, the genocide of Cambodians will continue with the Amerian people as unwitting participants.