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| UN Decolonization Committee? |
(Click here if you are interested in the Argentine claim to the Falklands)
The following territories are listed as ripe for decolonization by the UN Decolonization Committee:
TERRITORY
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Administration | Area (sq.km.) | Population 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFRICA | |||
| Western Sahara | 2 | 266,000 | 3 |
| ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN | |||
| Anguilla | United Kingdom | 96 | 14,766 |
| Bermuda | United Kingdom | 53 | 68,265 |
| British Virgin Islands | United Kingdom | 153 | 24,939 |
| Cayman Islands | United Kingdom | 260 | 50,209 |
| Falkland Islands (Malvinas)4 | United Kingdom | 11,961 | 3,140 |
| Montserrat | United Kingdom | 98 | 5,118 |
| St. Helena | United Kingdom | 122 | 7,670 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | United Kingdom | 430 | 23,528 |
| United States Virgin Islands | United States | 340 | 109,750 |
| EUROPE | |||
| Gibraltar | United Kingdom | 6 | 28,877 |
| ASIA AND PACIFIC | |||
| American Samoa | United States | 197 | 66,432 |
| Guam | United States | 549 | 180,865 |
| New Caledonia5 | France | 35,853 | 252,352 |
| Pitcairn | United Kingdom | 5 | 48 |
| Tokelau | New Zealand | 10 | 1,400 |
The current views on independence and progress towards independence amongst the territories in the list are considered below.
In reality there are some shocking cases of Colonialism in the world, cases that make these Island Dependencies pale into insignificance. The most urgent cases of colonies that need decolonising are Tibet, Chechnya, Western Sahara, Mali and Kashmir. It should be no surprise that of these five major cases only Western Sahara makes the Decolonization Committee's list of Colonies, having got onto the list because it was once Spanish controlled.
The current UN Decolonization Committee is not addressing decolonization at all, it's prime function is to press the territorial claims of Argentina and Spain over The Falklands and Gibraltar. In both cases the populations of these small countries do not wish to change their sovereignty. The UN should be ashamed of itself for allowing the hijacking of its institutions by neo-colonialist powers. This is a disgrace.
Gibraltar and The Falklands
These two territories are the main reason for the strange list of territories in need of decolonization. If British Overseas Territories were exempted from the list because they have their own parliaments, are largely self governing and can vote for complete independence at any time then the Committee would have been unable to focus much of its ire on Gibraltar and the Falklands.
The people of Gibraltar are fighting a desperate rear-guard action against Britain, Spain and the UN Decolonization Committee to remain as a British Dependency. The reason for this is that they do not trust the Spanish and fear that if they become independent they will be annexed by Spain. Even the British Government, keen to have good relations with Spain, are pushing the Gibraltarians towards Spanish control. The Spanish stopped the de-listing of Gibraltar and stated that:
"..advances were being hampered by the local government’s insistence that it address aspects related to sovereignty, which were the sole responsibility of the United Kingdom and Spain."
In other words Spain is anxious to become a colonial power and is being assisted in this aim by the UN Decolonisation Committee (and the British Government at present).
The people of the Falkland Islands find themselves in a similar position. The decolonization committee has ruled that the Falklands are a natural part of Argentine territory despite the fact that, when the Argentines first claimed the Falklands and the British occupied them, Argentina was nowhere near the islands. It was only after the genocidal colonization of Patagonia in 1881 that Argentina expanded so that the Falkland Islands lay off its coast. Are the Committee ignorant of this fact?
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| The expansion of Argentina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Argentina#Historical_map) |
Given that the "territorial integrity" argument is nonsense the Decolonization Committee should be listening to the views of the Falkland Islanders, but, because they have decided that the Falklands are a natural part of Argentina they refuse to do so. This impasse in the Decolonization Committee smacks of corruption, there should be an investigation of the finances of the Committee members. The British Government has encouraged this brutal harassment of a small, island population by, on two occasions, attempting to thrust the Falklands into the control of Argentina.
The British should be taking urgent steps to persuade the Decolonization Committee to regard the views of the Gibraltarians and Falkland Islanders as being the sole determinant of the future of these territories. The UN should support self-determination, not neo-colonialism. Perhaps it is because many of the members of the Decolonization Committee are from countries that are colonists that they see no paradox in a Decolonization Committtee promoting neo-colonialism (see Colonialism? Its the Colonists Stupid! ).
Western Sahara and Guam
Western Sahara is subject to continuous warfare between Morocco and various other factions (see Wikipedia article on Western Sahara. It is the only country on the UN list of countries to be decolonised that deserves close attention. Spain withdrew in 1976.
Guam is about to hold a plebiscite where people can vote for statehood within the US, independence or free association with the United States.
Other States
The other states on the Committee's list are all able to hold referendums to ask for independence if they so wish. None of them see this as an urgent step although a few, such as Bermuda, Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos may move steadily towards independence (3 out of 11). The British Overseas Dependencies have elections and their own governments but the Governor is appointed by Britain, they can all hold independence referendums at any time and these referendums would be binding on Britain. The state of play in the various territories on the list is summarised below:
The citizens of Anguilla can hold a referendum at any time to obtain independence, and may do so in the near to medium term future.
Bermuda is taking its time about whether or not to become fully independent, it had a local Independence Commission that was slightly in favour of independence but seemed to take the view that the matter was not urgent.
There is little pressure for independence in the British Virgin Islands (see http://bvinews.com/bvi/nationalism-and-independence/ or http://bvinews.com/bvi/independence-talk/
The Cayman Islands seems to take a similar view to the Virgin Islands.
The people of Montserrat are well aware that It is Britain’s position that it is willing and ready to grant independence to Montserrat as soon as a majority of the island’s people express a desire to move in that direction. but living on a pyroclastic volcano and having economic problems does not encourage them to "go it alone".
Even the UN Decolonization Committee was unable to find a desire for independence in St Helena and stated that: "Presently, Saint Helena had no aspirations towards independence". But St Helena remains on the list. The UN Decolonization Committee seems to regard any association with Britain as "colonization".
The Turks and Caicos Islands have a pro-independence movement but their leader said that he "..acknowledged that there are a few things that can be improved on before the step towards independence is taken". The Governor of the Islands made it clear that "the United Kingdom would grant independence to the TCI, if that were the choice made by the TC people".
There is almost no pressure for independence in the US Virgin Islands. I cannot find any significant calls for independence.
American Samoa has recently discussed independence at the behest of its US Governor but with a mixed reception.
Pitcairn is too small for independence. It is perplexing why this island, which is administered by New Zealand, is even on the list.
The citizens of Tokelau were not anxious for independence
The British Overseas Territories retain any resources or income that they generate so are of no financial value to the UK, in fact most of them are a serious financial liability. You may be wondering why the British do not demand that either the islands have a referendum on independence or the British will withdraw unilaterally. Being British I have a very low opinion of our Foreign Office and suspect that they wish to retain the option of forcibly assigning Gibraltar to Spain or the Falklands to Argentina etc. The mandarins see these territories as chips in the international game of poker.
POLITICAL THOUGHTS click here to see the whole POLITICAL THOUGHTS magazine POLITICAL THOUGHTS!
See also:
Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Las Malvinas for a discussion of the UN Resolutions on the Falklands and history.
Colonialism? Its the Colonists Stupid!
The Falklands and Nazism
The Argentine case for Las Malvinas
The Falklands are Chilean?
The conflict in Mali
Who is on the Decolonization Committee? Largely countries who have an interest in keeping their colonies off the list (Russia, China etc.) and countries with territorial claims (Spain, Argentina and their corrupted allies etc.).
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| 2009 members (dark green) and observers (light green) of the UN Committee on Decolonisation |
1. From estimates or censuses cited in United Nations documents issued in 2010.
2. On 26 February 1976, Spain informed the Secretary-General that as of that date it had terminated its presence in the Territory of the Sahara and deemed it necessary to place on record that Spain considered itself thenceforth exempt from any responsibility of any international nature in connection with the administration of the Territory, in view of the cessation of its participation in the temporary administration established for the Territory. In 1990, the General Assembly reaffirmed that the question of Western Sahara was a question of decolonization which remained to be completed by the people of Western Sahara.
3. Not available.
4. A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). (see ST/CS/SER.A/42)
5. On 2 December 1986, the General Assembly determined that New Caledonia was a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
Comments
Having thus been "readmitted" to the UK fold, post-independence, how does that make them a colony?
(I add parenthetically that I am unaware of this having ever happened anywhere else. Brazil - I think uniquely - once held administrative rule of its colonial master when the Portuguese court of Braganza decamped in 1808 in anticpiation of the Napoleonic threat - this lasted until the Congress of Vienna in 1915 when the two countries become a united kingdom; but I don't think anyone else who has had independence has similarly reverted.)
Much of this is to do with power and, eventually, the Antarctic. If Britain did not have a presence in the south Atlantic the South Americans would feel much more confident in their own, belated, claims to the southern continent. - and any riches that it mau hold.
The base line is this - they just don't like us being down there. The Falklands dispute is not about truth and justice. It is about Geo-politics.
http://falklandstimeline.wordpress.com/