PRESS RELEASE : Foreign Secretary visits Falklands Islands [February 2024]

The press release issued by Foreign Office on 18 February 2024.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron is in the Falklands Islands during the first part of his first visit to the South Atlantic, South America and New York.

• the Foreign Secretary will meet Falkland Islanders and see their work to build a thriving community and protect their natural environment
• he will reiterate the UK’s commitment to uphold the Islanders’ right of self-determination
• he will then travel onwards to Paraguay, Brazil for the G20 and New York for the UN

Foreign Secretary David Cameron will visit the Falkland Islands during the first leg of his first visit to the South Atlantic, South America and New York.

David Cameron will meet leaders of the Falkland Islands Government and see the range of communities that form part of the British family when he visits Stanley and other sites around this Overseas Territory.

In the 2013 referendum, Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly voted to retain their status as a self-governing UK Overseas Territory.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said:

The Falkland Islands are a valued part of the British family, and we are clear that as long as they want to remain part of the family, the issue of sovereignty will not be up for discussion.

The Falkland Islanders should be proud of the modern, prosperous community they have built. The Islands are a thriving economy, where as well as farming and fishing, there is a priority given to conservation and sustainability.

The Foreign Secretary will pay his respects to all those British personnel who served and those who lost their lives during the conflict in 1982 and thank the UK military personnel serving on the Islands today.

He will see the Islanders’ work to protect their natural environment and see some of the million penguins that live across the Islands.

He will then travel on to Paraguay, where he will be the first UK Foreign Secretary to ever visit the country. After that, he is due to go on to the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brazil where he will discuss G20 agendas on tackling hunger and climate change and work with partners to advance efforts towards peace in the Middle East and support for Ukraine.

And lastly, he will head to New York for the UN ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Background

• details of the environmental protection projects: Darwin Plus funding is used to enhance training for wildfire prevention and response. FCDO funding is used to restore the native tussac grass habitats
• the Falkland Islands is thought to be home to around 20% of the world’s tussac grass and it is the most important wildlife habitat on the Islands – home to seals, birds, and invertebrates