THE UN Special Committee of Decolonisation (UNSCD) wants to put itself out of business, and the sooner the better.

Six members arrived in Bermuda last Sunday to talk to members of the Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC), and they have been present at public meetings in St. George's and Somerset to listen to the views of Bermudians, and to give advice.

While insisting that the decision on Independence is for Bermudians alone, the members of the UNSCD are hardly neutral; delegation leader Julian Hunte, St. Lucia's Ambassador to the UN, conceded that, of the three alternatives available to Bermuda, two ? free association and full integration ? have been ruled out by the UK.

That leaves only Independence, because the status quo, continued colonial status, is anathema to the UN and to the UNSCD.

As recently as February 17, at a UN meeting attended by three Bermudians, BIC chairman Bishop Vernon Lambe, member David Rowntree, and Government liaison Philip Perinchief, Ambassador Hunte reminded the audience of the "decades-old (UN) Assembly mandate for a transfer of powers to the territorial governments."

Last year, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told the the Pacific regional seminar of the UNSCD that, "despite the UN's achievements in the field of decolonisation, the job remains incomplete."

In 1963, the UN General Assembly approved a list of 64 Territories to which the 1960 "Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples" applied, and now, just 16 such Territories remain.

The UN report of the February 17 meeting of UNSCD reported that the "administering powers" are France, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.

"The 16 remaining on the list are: Western Sahara, American Samoa, Guam, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Tokelau, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falklands Islands (Malvinas), Gibraltar, Montserrat, St. Helena, Turks and Caicos, and the US Virgin Islands", the UN reported.

A number of the Territories remain on the UN list for reasons of confused status or political correctness, and not because the people have not made their feelings known.

Western Sahara is claimed and administered by Morocco, and its status is unresolved, as it has been since Morocco, Mauritania and the Polisario Front warred over the former Spanish Sahara more than 30 years ago. It may be on the list for many years to come.

A referendum in Gibraltar in 2002 to test the people's enthusiasm for joint sovereignty with Spain resulted in 98.97 per cent of the 18,087 voters voting to continue its present relationship with the UK. Gibraltar remains on the UN list to avoid upsetting Spain, and because ownership of the Rock has been disputed for 300 years.

After the referendum, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "All along, we have said that no deal will be imposed on the people of Gibraltar without their support in a referendum. That remains the bottom line."

Gibraltar may be on the UN list for generations to come.

A similar wish to avoid upsetting Argentinian sensibilities leads the UN to parenthetically append "Malvinas" to the Falklands Islands, although the rocky, boggy South Atlantic islands were garrisoned by the British in 1833, and were never settled or controlled by Argentinians.

The 3,000 islanders, mostly of British origin, have something approaching a 100 per cent preference for maintaining the British colonial status quo, and since 1982 have celebrated a "Liberation Day" holiday each June 14, the day the war with Argentina ended.

Both Gibraltar and the Falklands could depart the UN list by claiming "free association" with the UK, but Spain and Argentina are unlikely to bow to the wishes of the respective peoples.

Some territories would fall into the definition of "micro-states" and are not likely to be taking their seats at the UN any time soon. St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, administered jointly by the UK, are isolated South Atlantic islands with a total population of 7,500. Given that half of their income comes from UK aid, they are not likely to be pressing for any change in their status soon. Pitcairn's population, which peaked at over 200, is now below 50, reduced by out-migration as descendants of the mutineers left for New Zealand. A considerable proportion of the adult male population is in jail for sexual congress with under-age females.

Despite recent opinion polls that show that only 15 per cent of Bermudians favour Independence, the UNSCD holds out hope for Bermuda's early removal from the list. But an even better prospect for early reduction of the list to 15 is Tokelau, extolled by UNSCD members as being ripe for self-determination.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fr?chette told the February 17 meeting of UNSCD, and a visiting Bermuda delegation, that "it is heartening that this session opens as one of the Pacific region territories is starting to prepare carefully and deliberately for the decision on its future in an act of self-determination.

"The case of Tokelau stands as an example of co-operation and political will exercised by the representatives of the people of the Territory and the administering power, New Zealand. This is leading to important steps towards self-determination for the Territory, with the Special Committee fully apprised of measures taken at every stage of the negotiations."

Members of the committee expressed full support; the representative of Papua New Guinea said that "the case of Tokelau is a good one, and demonstrated that decolonisation could be done". Syria's Fayssal Mekdad said he was optimistic that "advances could be made in dealing with the very important question of Tokelau, to which he attached great importance".

The Bolivian representative said "Tokelau represented the most palpable, concrete example of what the Committee could accomplish".

He welcomed Bermuda's delegation, which, he hoped, along with Tokelau, would depart the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. "Those would be splendid examples of what could be done." Wherever the fates lead Bermuda, the residents of Tokelau are not likely to notice much change in their circumstances.

The declarations in the UN concerned 1,577 people living on three coral atolls spread over 150 kilometres of the Western Pacific ocean, accessible only by a five-day round-trip by boat from Samoa.

The Polynesian inhabitants of Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo are reported by magazine to be "drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves towards free association with New Zealand".

New Zealand, which fully supports Tokelau's "move to greater political self-reliance", provided the equivalent of US$6.18 million in "official development assistance" last year, some $4,000 per capita for a population with a GDP per capita of $1,000.