2015 Session Of UN Decolonization Committee
The 2015 session of the Special Committee on Decolonization recently got underway, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying “the success of our efforts continues to depend on the political will of all involved.”
In describing the Committee, the UN says: “In a vast political reshaping of the world, more than 80 former colonies comprising some 750 million people have gained independence since the creation of the United Nations.
“At present, 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories across the globe remain to be decolonized, home to nearly 2 million people. Thus, the process of decolonization is not complete.”
Bermuda is included on the UN’s list of “Non-Self-Governing Territories”, having been listed since 1946.
Joining Bermuda on the list are Western Sahara, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands Montserrat, St. Helena, Turks & Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, American Samoa, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Pitcairn and Tokelau.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, as delivered by Jens Toyberg-Frandzen, to the opening of the session said, “I would like to convey my warmest greetings to the members of the Special Committee today as it begins its session in 2015.
“This year marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, as well as the midpoint of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.
“The success of our efforts continues to depend on the political will of all involved.
“Productive cooperation among all concerned, particularly the Committee, the administering Powers and the Non-Self-Governing Territories, is on the rise. Let us seize this momentum and move the decolonization agenda forward.
“Today, 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories across the globe remain under the purview of this Committee. I call on the international community to address the issue of self-government and find innovative and practical ways to implement the decolonization process.
“In this endeavour, we shall be guided by the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the relevant General Assembly resolutions.
“As we celebrate this year the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, we also mark 70 years in advancing the Organization’s historic decolonization mandate. Yet this process is still not complete. Please rest assured that the Secretariat will continue to assist the Special Committee in its important work. ”
In the 1995 referendum on independence, over 73% of Bermudians voted against independence.
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Bermuda would be insane to go independent at this stage. That British/EU passport is so valuable to us.
Given the list is of ‘Non-Self-Governing Territories’ how do we fit on there. We are self-governed, we have by the far one of the most advanced constitutions of any other overseas territory, British or otherwise. I think it is time the UN updates their list, I understand that when they created the list, we didn’t have constitution, but that was decades ago. We are self-governing and we have chosen this way.
What is the purpose of the UN? What is the purpose of having a Special Committee on Decolonization for a group of mostly islands that have less that 500,000 in population total compared with the 6+ billion world population? What a waste of time and resources!
So that we can pay them for the privilege to be part of the UN? Or at least, so that our future UN votes can be bought by China or other big nations?
Well sadly we are self governing and technically we shouldn’t apply as we didn’t colonise anyone. Place was empty and a few white chaps from the uk got bored of the weather..not hard to do and decided to pop over this way and lay claim to empty land…no colonizing in the sense of Africa now is there. Besides who would you hand it back to? The first Bermudians…well we all know how difficult a task that is here..there is a clue in my post though.