State Department figures on South Vietnamese orphans dramatically point up the crying need for immediate. forceful action. Their estimates in 1972 listed 150.000 civilian children living with their remaining parents. 150.000 civilian parentless children living with relatives. 412.000 military dependent children receiving benefits from the Vietnamese War Veterans Ministry. 18.000 children living in governmentrecognized orphanages. and 6.000 children living in nonrecognized orphanages. According to statistics compiled by the Senate Subcommittee on Refugees. refugees and other war victims in South Vietnam since 1965 total some 10.105.400more than half the population of South Vietnam. civilian war casualty amputees number some 70.000 to 80.000 in addition to uncounted thousands in the military. war widows number some 103.000. with many more on the civilian side. blind war victims number some 40.000. and paraplegics are in the thousands. The Vietnamese Ministry of Social Welfare is badly in need of assistance. receiving less than 1 percent of the national budget. The bulk of that money goes for refugees. Only $2 a month is provided for each child in a registered orphanage. with the rest coming from private sources. The death rate has been estimated as high as 90 percent at some institutions. which are often overcrowded. understaffed and short on the necessities for adequate care.
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Refugees refugees