Fwd (GLW): PACIFIC: Decolonisation far from over

["Alan Bradley" <abradley1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From Green Left Weekly, June 19, 2002.

PACIFIC: Decolonisation far from over
BY MICHELLE BREAR

SUVA, Fiji - Since the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP)
movement's formation in 1975, the campaign for self-determination for
Pacific island nations under colonial rule has been central to its work, and
that of its Suva-based secretariat, the Pacific Concerns Resources Centre
(PCRC).

Small island nations account for 14 of 16 territories recognised by the
United Nations Special Committee for Decolonisation (UNSCD) as non
self-governing territories. Five (Guam, American Samoa, Kanaky, Tokelau and
Pitcairn) are in the Pacific Ocean. Many others, including West Papua and
Bougainville in the Pacific region, are not recognised by the UN as non
self-governing territories.

At the May 14-16 UN Pacific Regional Forum, held in Nadi, Fiji, which
discussed the progress of the UNSCD, PCRC activists attended to campaign on
behalf of the non self-governing territories. Many representatives of these
territories were prevented from speaking in the forum due to its
bureaucratic structure, which allows only selected representatives to
contribute.

<The remainder of the article can be found at
http://www.greenleft.org.au/current/496p16b.htm >


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