Cambodian psychiatrist helping genocide survivors wins 'Asia's Nobel Prize'

[geovalin]

A Cambodian psychiatrist treating victims of the Khmer Rouge and a French environmentalist cleaning up Indonesian rivers were among the winners Wednesday of the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award -- considered Asia's Nobel Prize.

 

The annual award, established in 1957 and named after a Philippines president who died in a plane crash, honours those who have performed "selfless service to the peoples of Asia". The foundation that runs the award announced four winners in an online announcement.

 

Among them was Sotheara Chhim, 54, a psychiatrist and survivor of the murderous, ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime that killed nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and mass executions in the 1970s. He was cited for devoting his life to helping people who suffered under the Khmer Rouge, with a focus on treating "baksbat" -- "broken courage" -- a syndrome seen in Cambodia that is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder.

 

The Magsaysay Award organisers praised "his calm courage in surmounting deep trauma to become his people's healer".

 

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