Mizzima News

New Delhi - Arab Insurance group (ARIG) has announced pulling out of Burma's insurance market after campaigners pointed out that its presence in the market helps the military rulers of the country profit, Burma Campaign UK said.

After a month of releasing a report titled "Insuring Repression" by the BCUK which revealed how international insurance companies finance Burma's military junta, ARIG, is the second international insurance company to withdraw from the Burmese market.

"It is welcome news, we hope that other companies will pull out of Burma soon," Johnny Chatterton, author of the report and Campaigns Officer of BCUK told Mizzima over telephone.

ARIG is a Bahrain based company dealing in insurance, reinsurance and other services. Its decision to withdraw comes a week after another international insurance company, XL limited, announced its withdrawal from Burma.

BCUK said, ARIG has informed the group that "After a review of the current situation it has taken a corporate decision to refrain from renewing any of the isolated risks previously written in Myanmar [Burma]."

But no officials of the ARIG Company were available for comment on Thursday.

According to the BCUK, despite ARIG and XL's withdrawal, 14 more international insurance companies are still in the market in Burma helping finance billions of dollars to the military rulers of the country.

Among them are Lloyd's of London, Hannover Re, Catlin, Atrium Underwriting, Tokio Marine, Sompo Japan, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, QBE, ACE, Labuan Re, OCBC Bank, Pana Harrison, Target Insurance Broker and AI Wasl.

BCUK has begun a campaign that urges insurance companies worldwide to stop insuring in the Burmese market and the group in its report, has divided the companies into three categories – the dirty list, shame list and clean list.

"The time has come for governments to take action and shut down the regime's financial lifeline," Chatterton said is a statement released on Wednesday.

"Today we reiterate our call to the UK government to take the lead and push for EU wide targeted financial sanctions that stop insurance companies helping finance the military junta," he added.

According to a July 29 report released by BCUK's, 16 companies highlighted as their members or subsidiaries sell insurance to companies in Burma, while 203 companies are on the shame list, 218 are on the clean list.

Chatterton said his group is pushing the British government to pressure the European Union to implement financial sanctions that will not allow insurance companies to operate in Burma.

"There could be other insurance companies that we don't know of which is why we are pushing for EU sanctions because Europe is an important centre for the insurance industry," said Chatterton.

Lloyd's of London, which has three of its market members - Catlin, Atrium and Tokio Marine – cited the lack of sanctions as the chief defence for the actions of their members who continue to be involved in Burma.

Insurance companies, the BCUK said, are funding millions of dollars to the Burmese junta which use it to buy more guns and weapons and strengthen its stranglehold on power to further oppress its own citizens.