Argentina calls on the United Kingdom to move forward with identification of fallen in Malvinas

The tension with the United Kingdom over the Malvinas issue grows and before the British delay in the implementation of a new stage the identification of the fallen soldiers on the islands, the Foreign Ministry in charge of Santiago Cafiero raised a formal note to demand to advance with phase three of the Malvinas Humanitarian Project Plan (PPH). As reported by the NA agency, formal presentations have been made to finalize the process that seeks to investigate six new cases on Bourbon Island and the Darwin cemetery, and one in another point of the territory of which no further details transcended at the request of their relatives. The Humanitarian Project Plan that began in December 2017 consists of the preparation of a report detailing the tasks carried out, their results and the precision of the objects found in the graves of the fallen. The identification is done through DNA samples provided by relatives and so far, it has made possible a result of 88 positive cases. Phase three, which should have been signed and started on December 16, 2022, is under negotiation given that the government of Rishi Sunak reported that “there was reluctance on the part of the illegitimate island legislative assembly,” regarding family flights to the territory. Given this, the Foreign Ministry issued a note in February 2022 to the British embassy in Buenos Aires, with a copy to the International Committee of the Red Cross based in Geneva, in claim of the matter. The secretary of Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic, Guillermo Carmona, clarified that the request was reiterated last week to carry out the third stage and add seven new cases to the identifications. Last week in a note addressed to the British embassy we again requested the realization of the third stage of the humanitarian project plan, “he said, and explained: “Argentina considers that due to the advanced state of the negotiation in Geneva, only the positive response of the British government remains for its concretion.” He also clarified that Argentina “has complied with all the necessary instances for the signing of the agreement and acted with full flexibility to achieve it,” but, despite the good predisposition they claim to have, there are still no favorable results on the part of the Sunak government, which makes it possible to start with the third stage. In this regard, from the Foreign Ministry they assured that the delay in the times does not respond to the Government’s decision to annul the Foradori – Duncan pact announced in March but to the fact that the United Kingdom “uses the humanitarian as a lever for other interests”, among them, establishing flights to third countries, and thus avoiding direct ones, a constant claim, something they consider unacceptable. The clarification refers to the decision of President Alberto Fernández to cancel the pact signed in 2016, under the administration of Mauricio Macri, which granted concessions to the interests of the United Kingdom regarding the exploitation of natural resources in the Malvinas Islands and affected the request for sovereignty. Cafiero was in charge of communicating the issue and did so before his British counterpart James Cleverly during a meeting within the framework of the summit in New Delhi, in writing and in the exchange, verbally. Cleverly, via Twitter, made public his disagreement: “The Falkland Islands are British. The islanders have the right to decide their own future: they have chosen to remain an autonomous British overseas territory.” The Government insists on making it clear that bilateral tensions should not affect the humanitarian issue, which is a priority given to the intentions, tensions and wishes of nations.

Original source in Spanish