MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands elected lawmakers demand respect for self-determination from UN C24

MLA Mark Pollard, “To those who say this is about sovereignty – I say no. This is about people”.

On Wednesday 18 June, two elected members from the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly, MLAs Mark Pollard and Peter Biggs addressed the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, better known as the Committee of 24.

MLA Pollard in an emphatic presentation said he was “a proud, peaceful, passionate representative of the free and democratic people of the Falkland Islands and was before the Committee to speak for the Falkland Islanders, not Britain and not Argentina.

“We are not a pawn in a political game not a footnote in someone else’s history”Each year at C24, “we reaffirm our right to self-determination, which is not a slogan, is not selective nor up for sale, “it is our right, our voice, our future”.

MLA Pollard also mentioned the war, the invasion in 1982, “our people huddled in silence as foreign boots stomped across the land our ancestors forged into our home; our people remember the gun barrels, the uniforms, the days when we were treated not as people, but as a prize.

“But this fear forged our future, the pain made us proud. It will never be forgotten – it is forever in our souls.
“To those who say this is about sovereignty – I say no. This is about people. To those who speak of “interests” – I say listen to our wishes.
“To those who suggest negotiation without us – I say: Nothing about us, without us”.

MLA Biggs commenced by telling C24 that his family has been in the Falklands since 1842, and were later part of the founders group of Stanley, the future capital of Falklands. He then recalled his family’s survival experience during the war and Argentine invasion, with his wife pregnant and the home exposed to automatic rifle fire and bombs. That is “why we celebrate our continued freedom every 14th June”.

But the war’s legacy continued and one of MLA Biggs’ tasks for 35 years was to check on the fences that surrounded the many minefields created during the foreign occupation. MLA Biggs states that Argentina now has changed and enjoys freedoms and a democratic system, and hopefully “regrets of the military invasion and its failure, goes to recognize the violation of sovereignty committed”.

But now as an elected representative of the Falklands MLA Biggs stands before C24 to illustrate on the special relation with UK, the 2013 referendum with 98% support for remaining as an Overseas Territory. How the Islands, now a multicultural society with 74 different nationalities, have advanced in education and health attention matters, an open economy based on fisheries, tourism and agriculture which provide high living standards for the Islanders and a thriving scientific community to help protect the environment and oceans.

“There is a huge successful story time between the arrival of settlers in the 19th century and the modern Falklands. What made all this possible you may ask? The answer is simple – the people of the Falklands, with their struggle against huge hardships, hard work, determination and resolve to transform a wilderness into a modern, successful British Overseas Territory.

“But today, some with political motives seek to deny that we are a “people” under the UN definition - and thereby deny us our fundamental right to self-determination.

Finally an outline of the current position between the Falkland Islands and Argentina.

We currently have an agreement that includes the exchange of fisheries scientific data, the resumption of an air link between the Falklands and Brazil, the easing of sanctions against the Falklands, and for compassionate visits to the Islands by the families of Argentine soldiers who died in 1982. Additionally, it includes the continuation of work by the International Red Cross in casualty identification.

So far, one such visit has taken place - a charter flight enabling families to pay their respects. We facilitated this visit with great care and community support, in accordance with the terms of the agreement. There has been no other progress within the agreement.

 MLA Biggs, “Falklands would like to live in peace, dignity and respect with all our neighbors”

Madam Chair, Excellences, distinguished guests.
Madam chair I thank you for the opportunity to address the Committee of 24.
My name is Peter Biggs: I am a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands.
My father’s family came from England. My mother’s family came from Sweden.
The first member of my family arrived in the Falkland Islands in the year 1842. He and his family stepped ashore in Port Louis on East Falklands.
Without doubt life was very hard for new settlers at that time. Any serious illness probably resulted in death and supply ships were infrequent.
A few years later they moved 24 miles southeast to help build a new settlement which would one day become our capital, my home, the City of Stanley.
In 1982 I was living in Stanley. That was the year we were invaded by Argentina. I was young and liberal in outlook – a pacifist.
I was very concerned for the safely of my family, especially my wife, who was 5 months pregnant at that time – at one point she had to dive for cover when automatic rifle fire tore a branch off a tree just metres from our house, and as shells went both ways over our house, and the sound of bombs came from all directions, she would flinch with every explosion, even when asleep.
We survived - and now the Falklands celebrate its continuing freedom each year on 14th June.
After the war I joined the Falkland Islands Defense Force. I spent the next 35 years in both part-time and full-time service, and one of my duties was to supervise the civilian contractors that maintained the fences which surrounded the many minefields that had been created during the occupation.
I acknowledge that these harsh events occurred years ago, and that for decades now Argentina has enjoyed the freedoms of a democratic system of government.
I would like to think that there is now regret that the previous military government caused the tragedy of the invasion of the Falkland Islands, and I hope that regret extends beyond the failure of the invasion itself and recognizes that to violate the sovereignty of another peaceful people is fundamentally wrong.
Now I find myself defending the Falkland Islands in a very different way: addressing you all at the Committee of 24.
To call the Falkland Islands a colony of the United Kingdom is incorrect.
The Falklands was a colony, but it has now evolved, by choice and mutual agreement between the Governments of the United Kingdom and the Falklands, into a British Overseas Territory.
I will not go into the intricacies of history during this speech, as that information is published for all to see in the excellent trilogy of Falklands’ history “The Falklands Saga Volumes 1 – 3” by Graham Pascoe.
This address would not be complete without mention of the referendum carried out in the Falklands in 2013.
The event was verified by an international field of observers. The result was a 92% turn out and a 99.8% preference to remain as a British Overseas Territory. The population of the Falklands celebrated on the streets when the result was announced.
I would now like to outline some things that the population of the Falklands has achieved over the years since the early settlers arrived:
We now enjoy a good standard of living and give assistance to our young people to complete their college and university education in the United Kingdom.
We have a free medical service, including transportation overseas if the problem cannot be resolved in the Islands.
Our revenue is raised mainly through licensing fees and corporation and business taxation. Our main industries are fisheries, agriculture (mainly sheep farming) and tourism.
Our carefully monitored fisheries are subject to scientific scrutiny we have an efficient fisheries protection system to ensure sustainability.
We have no debt, other than for a loan for infrastructure development liquidity that is covered by bank deposits.
70% of our students educated overseas return to live and work in the Falklands.
We have a multicultural society, with individuals and families from 74 nationalities choosing to make the Falkland Islands their home
Our tax rates are kept at a reasonable level, in order to encourage enterprise and investment.
We have recently opened a new magnificent facility to house and care for vulnerable members of the community.
Local industries have a good record of donating to sporting and recreational facilities and events.
We have a low crime rate.
New capital investments will provide a huge increase in our capability to produce renewable energy with wind turbines, thereby reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
We are very proud of our environment and biodiversity and will do everything necessary to protect these things for future generations. The biodiversity of the Falklands has global significance.
There is a huge story time between the arrival of settlers in the 19th century and the modern Falklands.
The transition between tiny rough settlements to the modern, dynamic, inclusive, and successful and increasingly sustainability conscious society we have now was a slow and torturous process.
It involved incredible endurance and hard work, tempered by the skill and ingenuity that prospers in the face of hardship. Two world wars intervened. Volunteers journeyed to the United Kingdom and enlisted in British military services in both these wars, and many did not return. In small communities everybody knows somebody who is lost. In WW2 the Islands paid for the construction 10 spitfire aircraft for the Royal Air Force and gave £50,000 towards the war effort. We moved away from overseas ownership of farmland in the 1980s, and now most farms are owned by people that live and work and in the Islands. Companies involved in the fishing industry are obliged to have majority ownership in the Falklands. The age of commercial colonialism in the Falklands is over.
What made all this possible you may ask? The answer is simple – the people of the Falklands, with their struggle against huge hardships, hard work, determination and resolve to transform a wilderness into a modern, successful British Overseas Territory.
Today, some with political motives seek to deny that we are a “people” under the UN definition - and thereby deny us our fundamental right to self-determination.
Out of these challenges and history emerges a culture that perhaps explains our current relationship with the United Kingdom – we choose to keep our links with the UK, brothers and sisters in arms, in mutual respect and partnership, while developing self-reliance and confidence in our progress as a developing small island state.
Before I close, I would like to outline the current position between the Falkland Islands and Argentina.
We currently have an agreement that includes the exchange of fisheries scientific data, the resumption of an air-link between the Falklands and Brazil, the easing of sanctions against the Falklands, and for compassionate visits to the Islands by the families of Argentine soldiers who died in 1982. Additionally, it includes the continuation of work by the International Red Cross in casualty identification.
So far, one such visit has taken place - a charter flight enabling families to pay their respects. We facilitated this visit with great care and community support, in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
There has been no other progress within the agreement.
The people of the Falklands stand firm in their right of self-determination, despite what some may say to the contrary.
In summary I will say that the people of the Falklands would like to live in peace, dignity and respect with all our neighbors.
Our islands, our wishes, our right, our determination.
Thank you, Madam Chair, Excellencies, distinguished guests.
MLA Peter Biggs, “There is a huge story time between the arrival of settlers in the 19th century and the modern Falklands.”

MLA Mark Pollard, “we will never surrender our right to decide our own future”

Madam Chair, Excellences, distinguished guests.
My name is Mark Pollard, I am an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Falkland Islands. It is in that role that I address you today as a proud, peaceful, and passionate representative of a free and democratic people – the people of the Falkland Islands.
I come from windswept shores where the sky meets rugged hills, and the ocean shapes our way of life. Where children grow up breathing sea air, hands in the soil, and freedom is more than a word – it's a way of being.
I speak for our people; I speak for Falkland Islanders.
I do not speak for Britain. I do not speak for Argentina.
We are not a pawn in a political game.
We are not a footnote in someone else’s history.
We are not forgotten.
We are Falkland Islanders – proud, peaceful and principled.
We are a people.
We are a people of pioneers and patriots, of providers and protectors.
Our ancestors arrived not as conquerors, but as caretakers – custodians of our environment, taming the land, raising families and building homes. They carved a country with little more than willpower and hard work and we honour them still.
We are not implanted, we are rooted.
We are not imposed, we are ingrained.
And we are here to stay.
Each year, we return to this Committee.
Each year, we tell you, our story.
Each year, we reaffirm our right: the right to self-determination.
Self-determination is not a slogan.
Self-determination is not selective.
Self-determination is not up for sale.
It is our right, it is our voice, it is our future.
When 99.8% of our people voted in 2013 to remain a UK Overseas Territory, they did so with clarity and conviction. With 92% turnout, in a referendum observed by independent international witnesses, our people spoke. And yet still, some refuse to hear us.
What louder voice must we use than democracy itself? In this very institution, created to uphold the will of the people.
I come to you from a land where skies stretch forever, a land where penguins outnumber people, and the silence speaks of peace. But it hasn’t always been peaceful or silent.
Our people remember the war.
Our people remember the invasion.
Our people huddled in silence as foreign boots stomped across the land our ancestors forged into our home.
Our people remember the gun barrels, the uniforms, the days when we were treated not as people, but as a prize.
This fear forged our future.
That pain made us proud.
It will never be forgotten – it is forever in our souls.
To those who say this is about sovereignty – I say no. This is about people.
To those who speak of “interests” – I say listen to our wishes.
To those who suggest negotiation without us – I say:
Nothing about us, without us.
We are a democratic, diverse and determined community.
We have built a country of conservation, cooperation and community spirit.
We educate our children for free, care for our sick without charge, and open our homes to visitors from every corner of the world.
We lead in renewable energy.
We lead in sustainable fisheries.
We lead in environmental protection. These are not gifts from Britain, nor concessions from Argentina.
This is Falkland Islander achievement.
We have nothing to hide and everything to show.
And once again, we invite this Committee to visit. Come.
See our schools. Walk our streets. Speak to our people.
See the reality – not the rhetoric.
Madam Chair,
We do not ask for sympathy; we do not beg for favor.
We are demanding recognition of our most basic human right:
To choose our own path. To be who we are. To live in peace, on our own terms, in our own land.
That is not too much to ask.
We are a people.
We are a people.
We are a people.
And as long as we draw breath on our shores, we will speak our truth, we will defend our freedom, and we will never – never – surrender our right to decide our own future.
Thank you, Madam Chair, Excellences, distinguished guests.