Despite a call for sanctions by the international community on Burma, companies are instead expanding their engagement in business relationships with the militarily-ruled country and as such are complicit in the torture of Burmese citizens, says a prominent activist group.

The London-based Burma Campaign UK (BCUK) has added at least 30 additional international companies to their dirty list of those who financially support the Burmese military junta directly or indirectly by investing in the country.

BCUK director Mark Farmaner told Mizzima that the lack of effective action on and support for sanctions regarding Burma, including countries in Europe and Asia in addition to the United Nations, encourages an increasing number of companies to invest in Burma.

"Because governments have simply not imposed sanctions, their governments have not taken action," said Mark Farmaner. "Though there have been strong sanctions for many years, they have failed," he added.

"The UN, as well as EU and Asian governments have not taken action, leaving the Burmese democracy movement in torture," added Farmaner.

BCUK lists170 companies in total in their new dirty list as investing in Burma and thus supporting the military junta's financial lifeline.

"This list proves that the current sanctions are not working. More companies than ever are investing in Burma in the oil, gas and dam sectors," said Johnny Chatterton, Campaigns Officer for BCUK, in the report.

Prominent companies on the list include Toyota, Qantas, TOTAL Oil, Orient Express, Kuoni, TUI, Schlumberger, BBC Worldwide, Lonely Planet, Daewoo, China National Offshore Oil Corp and Hutchison Whampoa, according to the report.

"Almost 200 companies are listed as working in Burma, bringing in billions of dollars to the regime and showing that there are no real economic sanctions," said Farmaner.

"The sanctions are simply not there. If there were sanctions by the UN and national governments, these companies would not be able to operate in Burma," said Farmaner.

The BCUK director said the UN itself is silent in the matter of taking action against the junta, even though it has accused the military junta of human rights abuses as under the Geneva agreement.

"The UN has got not one single sanction against the regime, not even an arms embargo," expounded Farmaner.

There are many more companies investing in Burma apart from those on the list, including well-known names, as they are not considered to be significantly investing in the country.

"We have seen that SPDC become richer and richer and human rights abuses getting worse and worse," added Farmaner.

More than 100 companies, including Cotton Traders, XL, Trailblazer Guides, Jet Gold Corp, CHC, Aquatic, PwC, Rolls Royce, DHL, Swiss Re and Willis have pulled out of Burma after facing protests from BCUK and being placed on their dirty list, which premiered six years ago.

However, as some companies have withdrawn from the country, the military junta has tried to replace them with regional companies, resulting in a lot of Asian companies now exploiting sectors of the Burmese economy such as natural resources.

"Newly targeted sanctions against the regime must now be implemented if the international community is serious about cutting the regime's financial lifeline," said Johnny Chatterton.

"To those that claim investment aids the people of Burma, the evidence shows the opposite is true. As investment has increased, the human rights situation has deteriorated," he continued

The new dirty list companies mainly invest in the gas, oil, hydroelectricity and tourism sectors, according to the report.