Government Aid for Myanmar Falls Short of Goal

The United Nations said Thursday it has received less than half of the $200-million it requested for cyclone relief in Myanmar, reports the Associated Press.

“Funding is clearly not coming in at the rate we would hope,” said Amanda Pitt, a United Nations spokeswoman in Bangkok, Thailand. “Funding is urgently needed to sustain the pipeline for food and assistance.”

However, as donors and aid groups around the world draw from their resources to help Myanmar’s cyclone victims, the country’s junta said Friday that such assistance could not be trusted, reports the Associated Press in another article.

Government-run news sources continued to voice their skepticism stating that “the goodwill of a big Western nation that wants to help Myanmar with its warships was not genuine” and warned that aid from nations that impose economic sanctions against the country comes “with strings attached.”

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