Question of Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands

XXVIII. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE FOURTH COMMITTEE
3157. Question of Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands

The General Assembly, Having considered the question of Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands, Having examined the relevant chapters of the report 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[1] Recalling its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, and its resolution 2621 (XXV) of 12 October 1970, containing the programme of action for the full implementation of the Declaration, Recalling also its previous resolutions relating to the Territories listed above, in particular resolution 2984 (XXVII) of 14 December 1972, Noting with concern that many of the provisions of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, as well as the related recommendations of the Special Committee, remain unimplemented as regards those Territories, in particular with respect to the establishment of a specific time-table for the exercise by the peoples of those Territories of their right to self-determination and independence, Deploring the continued refusal of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in contravention of the provisions of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, to co-operate with the Special Committee in its examination of the Territories under that Government's administration, Deeply deploring the attitude of the administering Powers concerned, which continue to refuse to allow United Nations missions to visit the Territories under their administration, Concerned that the economies of those Territories are based mainly on fluctuating activities such as tourism, land sales and tax haven arrangements, Bearing in mind that recent visiting missions to small Territories have demonstrated their usefulness, and reiterating its conviction that the dispatch of visiting missions to the above-mentioned Territories is indispensable for securing adequate and first-hand information in regard to the political, economic and social conditions in the Territories and to the views, wishes and aspirations of the people therein, Mindful that those Territories require the continued attention and assistance of the United Nations in the achievement by their peoples of the objectives embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Aware of the special circumstances of the geographical location and economic conditions of the Territories,

1. Approves the chapters of the report 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 Territories of Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands;[2]

2. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the people of those Territories to self-determination and independence in accordance with the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples;

3. Calls upon the administering Powers concerned to take all the necessary steps, without further delay, to ensure the full and speedy attainment of the goals set forth in the Declaration with respect to the Territories and, in that regard, to establish, in consultation with the freely elected representatives of the people, a specific time-table for the free exercise by the peoples of the Territories of their right to self-determination and independence;

4. Reaffirms its conviction that the questions of territorial size, geographical isolation and limited resources should in no way delay the implementation of the Declaration with respect to the Territories concerned;

5. Calls upon the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, as the administering Powers concerned, to reconsider their attitude towards the receiving of United Nations visiting missions to the above-mentioned Territories and to permit access by such missions to Territories under their administration;

6. Calls upon the Government of the United Kingdom, as an administering Power, to participate in the relevant proceedings of the Special Committee concerning the Territories under its administration and, in particular, to report to the Special Committee on the implementation of the present resolution;

7. Calls upon the administering Powers concerned to take all possible steps to diversify the economies of the Territories listed above;

8. Urges the administering Powers to safeguard the inalienable right of the peoples of those Territories to the enjoyment of their natural resources by taking effective measures which guarantee the rights of the peoples to own and dispose of those natural resources and to establish and maintain control of their future development;

9. Requests the organizations of the United Nations system to assist in accelerating progress in all sectors of the national life of those Territories;

10. Invites the Secretary-General, having regard to the mandate entrusted to him in General Assembly resolution 3164 (XXVIII) of 14 December 1973, to pay particular regard to the need to intensify wide spread dissemination of information on the process of decolonization in respect of the Territories listed above and, in particular, to consider intensifying the activities of the information centres concerned;

11. Requests the Special Committee to continue to give full consideration to this question, including in particular the dispatch of visiting missions to those Territories, and to report to the General Assembly at its twenty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

2202nd plenary meeting,
14 December 1973

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[1] Ibid., chaps. II and XXIII-XXV. [2] Ibid., chaps.XXIII-XXV.