Why is the right to self-determination inapplicable to the inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands as the United Kingdom claims?
• The self-determination of peoples is a fundamental principle of contemporary international law. Its application should not, however, be diverted in order to breach the territorial integrity of a State. A principle that has brought about the liberation of more than 80 former colonies throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Oceania with over 750 million people should not be used to consecrate the perpetuation of a colonial order.
• The right to self-determination is not a recognised right for just any human community established in a territory, but only for “peoples”. Other human communities recognised by International Law, such as minorities or indigenous peoples, do not enjoy external self-determination: that is, they cannot decide the fate of the territory in which they live.
• The current inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands are not recognised as a “people” in the United Nations resolutions, unlike classic cases of colonialism, where an existing people is the victim of the establishment of colonial domination.
• The United Kingdom occupied the Malvinas Islands in 1833 and expelled the State that had been exercising sovereignty over them. It then proceeded to bring in its own settlers and strictly to control the immigration policy of an isolated territory, while refusing to settle the dispute. To this day it is the colonial government that decides the composition of the territory’s population. It is a small population whose demographics do not grow naturally, yet they are dependent upon the economic and administrative needs of the colonial government. According to the census of 2006, those born in the islands are a minority and 40% of inhabitants have resided in the Malvinas Islands for less than 10 years. Remarkably, the 2012 Census did not provide information about the persons born in the islands.
• None of the 40 United Nations resolutions on the Malvinas Islands Question makes any reference to self-determination. On the contrary, they state that the dispute over sovereignty must be settled through negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom, taking into account the “interests” – not the “wishes” – of the islands’ inhabitants. The United Nations General Assembly expressly rejected the principle of self-determination in the resolutions on the Malvinas Islands when the United Kingdom tried to have it included.
• It is the General Assembly of the United Nations that decides when a territory has been decolonized. Until such time as the General Assembly decides that a territory has ceased to be a Non-Self-Governing Territory (NSGT), the administering power is under obligation to continue transmitting the information required by article 73 of the United Nations Charter, and the Special Committee on Decolonisation still has the competence to examine the territory’s colonial status. This is the case with the Malvinas Islands.
• The British inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands unquestionably enjoy civil and political rights, but they do not have the right to decide the sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
• The current inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands are British, but the territory in which they live is not. Argentina calls for dialogue, but has no intention to remove their identity or change their way of life.
What impact will the referendum of 10-11 March have?
• From the point of view of International Law the referendum has no eff ect whatsoever.
• A referendum among the British inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands does not alter the essence of the Malvinas Islands Question, and its predictable outcome does not put an end to the dispute, nor to Argentina’s unquestionable rights.
• Only British citizens participate in the elections in the Malvinas Islands and only British citizens participate in the referendum. It is a referendum organised by British people, for British people, with the purpose of asserting that the territory has to remain British.
• Unlike other cases of decolonisation, this referendum has not been called by the United Nations, nor does it have its approval or supervision.
• The United Kingdom has not even asked the United Nations to organise the referendum, knowing full well that it will never succeed.
• The outcome of the referendum will not put an end to the dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom, whose settlement through negotiations is required by the United Nations. The United Kingdom cannot fail to meet its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, since the Malvinas Islands will continue to be a territory under the decolonisation process.
• The countries of the region have rejected the holding of the referendum, in declarations by UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) of November 2012 and MERCOSUR of December 2012, stating that it will not alter the essence of the Malvinas Question and that its outcome will not bring an end to the dispute over the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.
Resolución 2065 (XX). Cuestión de las Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands)
La Asamblea General,
Habiendo examinado la cuestión de las Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands),
Teniendo en cuenta los capítulos de los informes del Comité Especial encargado de examinar la situación con respecto a la aplicación de la Declaración sobre la concesión de la independencia a los países y pueblos coloniales concernientes a las Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands) y en particular las conclusiones y recomendaciones aprobadas por el mismo relativas a dicho Territorio,
Considerando que su resolución 1514 (XV), de 14 de diciembre de 1960, se inspiró en el anhelado propósito de poner fi n al colonialismo en todas partes y en todas sus formas, en una de las cuales se encuadra el caso de las Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands), Tomando nota de la existencia de una disputa entre los Gobiernos de la Argentina y del Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte acerca de la soberanía sobre dichas Islas, 1. Invita a los Gobiernos de la Argentina y del Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte a proseguir sin demora las negociaciones recomendadas por el Comité Especial encargado de examinar la situación con respecto a la aplicación de la Declaración sobre la concesión de la independencia a los países y pueblos coloniales a fi n de encontrar una solución pacífi ca al problema, teniendo debidamente en cuenta las disposiciones y los objetivos de la Carta de las Naciones Unidas y de la resolución 1514 (XV) de la Asamblea General, así como los intereses de la población de las Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands); 2. Pide a ambos Gobiernos que informen al Comité Especial y a la Asamblea General, en el vigésimo primer período de sesiones, sobre el resultado de las negociaciones.
1398a. sesión plenaria, 16 de diciembre de 1965.
Naciones Unidas
Resolution 2065 (XX). Question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
The General Assembly,
Having examined the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas),
Taking into account the chapters of the reports of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples relating to the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), and in particular the conclusions and recommendations adopted by the Committee with reference to that Territory,
Considering that its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 was prompted by the cherished aim of bringing to an end everywhere colonialism in all its forms, one of which covers the case of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas),
Noting the existence of a dispute between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the said Islands, 1. Invites the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to proceed without delay with the negotiations recommended by the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples with a view to fi nding a peaceful solution to the problem, bearing in mind the provisions and objectives of the Charter of the United Nations and of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and the interests of the population of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas);
2. Requests the two Governments to report to the Special Committee and to the General Assembly at its twenty-fi rst session on the results of the negotiations.
1398th plenary meeting, 16 December 1965.
United Nations