Tuesday, June 14, 2022 - 08:51

Defend the Gibraltarians right to self-determination Picardo tells UN

FULL TEXT OF SPEECH DELIVERED BY CHIEF MINISTER, FABIAN PICARDO

Madame Chairperson,
May I start by congratulating you your re-election to the Chair of this prestigious committee.
The first Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Sir Joshua Hassan, called for the right to self-determination before this committee fifty-nine years ago.

Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar, bar a short interruption, has now been appearing before this Committee for thirty consecutive years.
And we will always ensure that the voice of the Gibraltarians is heard in this Committee whilst we remain on your list of Non-Self-Governing Territories - despite the distance we must travel for a short hearing.
We make the long trip to deliver this short speech because the people of Gibraltar want only respect for our exercise of our right to self-determination.
We want only to be decolonised like many of the countries in this room were decolonised.
We want only to exercise the same right that you exercised.
To that end, for thirty years, Madame Chairperson, we have repeatedly asked the Committee to visit Gibraltar.
But it has not.
For thirty years, Madame Chairperson, we have repeatedly asked the Committee to take us off your list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
But it has not.
Over those thirty years, Madame Chairperson, our determination has not been blunted at all by an apparent lack of progress on either of these fronts.
And it will not be.