The far from resolved dispute over the Falkland

This week ceremonies took place in the Falkland Islands to mark Liberation Day - the 30th anniversary of the end of the conflict between Argentina and Great Britain.

But, as recent events have shown, the dispute is still far from settled.

In a speech David Cameron told the Argentinian government there would be 'absolutely no negotiation' over the sovereignty of the islands, which lie some 300 miles off the South American coast.

Little wonder then that the UK and Falklands governments have decided to hold a referendum on the islands to 'eliminate any possible doubt' that the islanders wish to remain British. The vote should take place early next year.

Argentina continues to accuse Britain of colonialism of an archipelago that London has controlled since 1833. The UN Decolonisation Committee met in New York on Thursday, with the Argentine President Cristina Kirchner lobbying for UN support.
 
'We are not asking anyone to say yes, the Malvinas belong to Argentina,' Ms. Kirchner said, using the Spanish name for the islands. 'We are asking no more, no less than to sit down and talk.'

The UK refuses to participate in the 29-country committee, but two of the Falkland Islands' legislative assembly members, Roger Edwards and Mike Summers, were there to present their case.

Mr Edwards told Sky News Online this week: 'My message to President Cristina Fernandez and the government of Argentina is that we, the people of the Falkland Islands, have a right to determine our own future [...] It is chapter one of the United Nations Charter and it is the basic human right of all people.'

The Argentine case, though a strong one, may fall on deaf ears. Although the Decolonisation Committee includes the Falkland Islands on its list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, it has been asserted that they are one of 16 territories which have too small a population 'to survive as viable, fully independent state'.
 
So despite its clear geographical proximity to the South American republic, the UK can get away with offering the Argentinians zero access to the Islands’ oil revenues.

Either way the Argentine cause continues to be used as a cudgel for heavy-handed nationalism, and views the islands only as a physical space without recognising the wishes of the islanders.

Fist-thumping rhetoric remains the order of the day for Ms Kirchner, claiming that Britain 'continues to be a crude colonial power in decline'.

With such disregard shown, it is unlikely that the Argentinians will recognise the referendum, and would surely rather that the Falkland Islanders simply disappear.