BVI Offshore Business: Grey Area

In the end of January, 2007 it was stated in the official newspaper of Myanmar that a British Virgin Islands company Rimbunan Petrogas Ltd, together with another BVI-registered and Singapore-based oil company - the MRPLE and P Pte Ltd – have signed a production sharing contracts with the state Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).  The companies are planning to explore oil and natural gas fields in western offshore areas of Myanmar.

In response to this, the human rights group Burma Campaign UK, based in London, has called on the British Government to endorse a ban on new investments in military-rule Burma. The human rights fighters launched a campaign for letters to be written to the British foreign minister, urging a ban on new investments in Burma’s economy. In the Burma Campaign-UK report, it is stated: “The regime in Burma has used foreign investment to double the size of the army, reinforcing its grip on power, while ordinary people have become poorer”.

The human rights activists stated that already for ten years the UK government had been refusing to ban new investments in Burma, despite repeated requests from many organizations, including Burma’s democracy movement. Great Britain has also been one of the largest investors in Burma since 1968, mainly because many foreign companies used jurisdictions like the British Virgin Islands to channel their investment to Burma.

The Burma Campaign UK is the only national organisation in the UK struggling and campaigning for human rights and democracy in Burma.