The U.N. General Assembly has voted to place French Polynesia back on its list of territories that should be decolonized, and requested the French government to "facilitate rapid progress towards a self-determination process."
Adopting a consensus resolution tabled by Nauru, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands late last week, the Assembly affirmed "the inalienable right of the people of French Polynesia to self-determination and independence" under the U.N. Charter.
It also declared that "an obligation exists [under the Charter] on the part of the Government of France, as the administering power of the territory, to transmit information on French Polynesia."
Notably, the General Assembly's latest action places French Polynesia back on the U.N. list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, bringing the number of inscriptions to 17.
France had undertaken to furnish information on French Polynesia in 1946, along with New Caledonia. Nevertheless, Paris stopped providing that information the following year, which was highlighted to the Assembly by the delegate of the Solomon Islands.
In June 2011, the Council of Ministers of French Polynesia adopted a resolution seeking self-determination within U.N. processes. The Territory's Assembly adopted the resolution in August, 2011. The current text "sends a simple message of peace and hope to the population that wants to determine their future," the delegate added.
In that light, the resolution adopted by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly requests the U.N. Special Committee on Decolonization to consider the question of French Polynesia at its next session and to report to the General Assembly at its 68th session.
It further requests the French Government, "as the administering power concerned, to intensify its dialogue with French Polynesia in order to facilitate rapid progress towards a fair and effective self-determination process, under which the terms and timelines for an act of self-determination will be agreed."
Earlier, Britain, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands had dissociated themselves from the consensus vote through their statements in the Assembly. Incidentally, the French delegation to the U.N. had to send letters to Member States last Thursday announcing that it would not be taking part in the Assembly meeting.
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