MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“We want to be us, a free people, practicing self-determination in a democratic country”, Falklands MLA Short

Address to the United Nations Special Committee on the situation with regard to the implementation of the declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples. Also known as the Committee or C24, 18 June 2024. Petition by MLA Gavin Short, member of the Falkland Islands elected Legislative Assembly.

Madam Chair, members of the C24,

My name is Gavin Short and I am a democratically elected representative of the Government and people of the Falkland Islands and my family have lived there for 175 years.

We are a multi-cultural and forward-looking democracy who have taken the Falklands from zero to a country that can now boast an A+ credit rating. Our economy continues to grow despite the economic woes that afflicts the world and our annualized inflation rate has now fallen to just over 3% . This allows us to, for example, provide our people with completely free education and medical cover both in and outside of the Falklands.

This is 2024, this is my third time in a row before this committee and I am disappointed to be here again - we should not have to be here arguing for our basic human right to self-determination but the world is becoming more unstable and we see that basic right coming under attack in many parts of the world from Europe and Asia to us down in the Falklands with some UN members states actively pursuing an agenda to subjugate people, so here I am again, standing before you speaking for my people.

The C24 are meant to be in existence to guide the so called none self-governing parts of the world on a journey to a form of government that is dictated by the populations of those territories. It is all about self-determination – you should be guiding us to full independence should it be wished by the people, or free association or to a form of Government as decided by the people of those territories and yet we see We see a committee that has publicly refused to visit the Falklands on a fact-finding mission despite repeated invitations from us in the Falklands to do so – we have nothing to hide – we are proud of our country and want to show it to you. Come down, see anything you wish, talk to whoever you wish – we have nothing to hide. If you cannot or will not visit as a committee then I invite individual members states to do so.

The election of a new Government in Argentina does seem to have had the effect of lowering the political temperature in the Southern Cone, which we welcome and it is our desire in the Falklands to work with Argentina on matters of science (for example) and taking relations back to a point where they were before the last Peronist Government walked away from an international agreement covering these matters.

This does not mean that we have any wish or desire to become an argentine colony, we do not, as having escaped from a colonial situation, we aren’t going back there. We asked our people and they made it quite plain that they had no desire either. We do not want to be argentine; we don’t want to be American or Italian or any other nationality – we just want to be us. A free people, practicing self-determination in a democratic country, left alone by the world to get on with making our little corner of the globe a better place for our people.

We ask you to respect that we have the right to self-determination as enshrined under the UN Charter – this is about people not a lump of rock. It’s about people, not some so called ancient dispute between two countries two centuries ago. To say that Britain and Argentina should discuss our future and respect our “interests” is colonial in the extreme – language from the 1960s – this is not about Argentina nor Britain – this is about us, we Falkland Islanders. Only we can say what happens in and to our country.

That is how it is in 2024. It’s called self-determination as freely expressed by the people and for the people. Not “interests” but wishes. Two little words but so different. One colonial and one democratic and modern.

I call on the committee members and both Argentina and Britain to hear these words and respect them.

Madam Chair, to repeat. This is about people. It’s about self-determination it’s about freedom and democracy and if anyone thinks for one moment that they can take these basic human rights away from us and put us back in a real colonial situation then they will have to get past me first and a population of likeminded people who live in the free and democratic Falkland Islands.

Thank you.