David Cameron warns Argentina against making threats over Falkland Islands

“But do not underestimate our resolve. Threats will not work. Attempts to
intimidate the Islanders will not succeed. Because Britain stands ready and
willing to stand up for the Falkland Islanders at any time.

“As long as they wish to remain a British territory, that is the way it
will stay.”

Mr Cameron’s comments came as the Falkland Island Government accused the
Argentinian president of ignoring the human rights of the islanders by
renewing attempts to have the country brought under Argentinian rule.

Mrs Kirchner’s attendance at the UN committee is thought to be the first time
any head of state has addressed such a low-level committee.

At the meeting she was due to be addressed by a committee from the Falkland
Islands. It is believed to be the first time representatives from the island
have been in the same room as the Argentine premiere.

Mrs Kirchner is attempting to persuade the committee that the Argentines and
the British should open discussions about the sovereignty of the Falkland
Islands with a view to placing the island under Argentinian rule.

Ahead of the meeting members of the Falkland Island delegation told the Daily
Telegraph that they planned to tell Mrs Kirchner that this was a breach the
United Nations charter and she was ignoring the rights of the islanders.

Roger Edwards, a member of the legislative assembly of the Falkland Island
Government, was due to address Mrs Kirchner last night.

He said: “All nations of the world have the right to determine their own
future. That is enshrined in the United Nations charter. It is the
cornerstone of the United Nations charter and denying people that basic
human right is against the United Nations charter.

“So if Britain and Argentina discuss the sovereignty of the islands
without including the Falkland Islands that would be wrong. But the
Argentinians believe we are an implanted population and we have no rights.”

Argentina has claimed that Britain is illegally occupying what they call the
Islas Malvinas and that the population of 3,000 has been put there by the
British.

But Mr Edwards says that the country relies on the British only for defence
and foreign affairs advice and is otherwise self-sufficient. It has its own
government, makes its own laws and raises its own taxes.

He says to put the country under Argentinian rule would “colonise”
the people and leave them bound by “subjugation, domination and
exploitation”.

Mike Summers, another member of the legislative committee of the Falkland
Islands Government, added: “Our key message is that we have been living
as Falkland Islanders for over 170 years and after all that time we have to
be people in our own right.”

He described the Argentine claim of “illegal occupation” as “a
piece of nonsense”.

Earlier this week it was announced that the Falkland Islands Government will
hold a referendum on their future.

The government says it will provide the international community with
conclusive proof that the islanders do not believe they are being ruled by
the British. Mr Cameron last night backed the referendum and urged Argentina
to do the same.

Yesterday the Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne visited the Falkland
Islands’ capital Stanley as part of a series of commemorative services to
mark the anniversary.

He said: “I am honoured to be here to remember the members of the UK
Armed Forces who fought, and the many who died, in the Falklands conflict.
Their sacrifice will not be forgotten. It is the reason that the people of
the Falkland Islands are able to choose their own future today.

“The people living here now either remember the conflict themselves or
know somebody who does. It is very much alive in the collective memory. We
should not forget the reasons for our presence here or the right of the
Falkland Islanders to decide their own destiny. This is a fundamental right.
Thirty years on, the principle of self-determination for the Falkland
Islands people remains as important as it ever has.”

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