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Falkland Islanders vote Yes in referendum to remain part of Britain

12 March 2013 11:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementeva – APA. The people of the Falklands have delivered one of the most emphatic votes in recent history when 99.8 per cent of those taking part in a referendum on the future of the islands said yes to remaining a British overseas territory, APA reports quoting The Telegraph. Just three people responded with the answer “No” to the question: "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?” In truth, the outcome of the poll was never in doubt, but the size of the Yes vote, combined with a turnout of 92 per cent. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, welcomed the result, and in a comment aimed at Argentina, which invaded the islands in 1982, asked all nations to respect the islanders’ wishes. However, government officials in Buenos Aires questioned the referendum's legitimacy. Alicia Castro, Argentina’s ambassador to Britain, continued yesterday to push her government’s line that referendum lacked validity but at least conceded the islanders’ existence. “We respect their way of life, their identity,” she said. “We respect that they want to continue being British, but the territory they inhabit is not British,” she said.