Of the Falkland Islanders who voted in the 2013 referendum, 99.8 per cent chose to keep their status as a British Overseas Territory. Britain’s deputy envoy to the United Nations put that figure in front of a UN committee this week and used it to back a blunt claim: London has no doubts on sovereignty.
Ambassador Kate Foster, the UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, spoke at the Special Political and Decolonization Fourth Committee. MercoPress published her remarks on October 21.
“The United Kingdom has no doubt about its sovereignty over both the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands, and their surrounding maritime areas,” Foster said. She added: “Nor do we have any doubt about the Falkland Islanders’ right of self-determination.”
The legal basis Foster cited
She traced that right to the UN Charter and to Article One of both UN covenants on human rights. Under those texts, she said, islanders are “free to determine their political status and pursue their economic, social, and cultural development.”
On the referendum, Foster said the vote followed international standards and was watched by independent international observers.
Arbitration and offshore resources
Foster then turned to Argentina. Buenos Aires has started arbitration against the UK under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS. Foster called that step “the latest attempt to undermine the rights and livelihoods of the people of the Falkland Islands.”
The islanders, she said, have chosen their future freely and democratically. That includes the right to develop and manage their natural resources “without intimidation, coercion, or interference from others.”
Oil and gas work on the Falklands continental shelf falls under Falkland Islands law, Foster told the committee. She said it is carried out in full accordance with international law, UNCLOS included.
Her closing words were a pledge. “The United Kingdom will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Falkland Islands Government and the Falkland Islanders,” she said. “We will robustly defend their wishes, their economy, and their right to determine their own future.”
