The Government of Trinidad and Tobago formally recognises the State of Palestine.
Trinidad and Tobago now joins 141 other countries that recognise Palestine. A statement from the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs on Thursday stated that Algeria was the first country in 1988 to recognise Palestine.
The ministry stated, “As recommended by the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Cabinet has determined that the formal recognition of Palestine by the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will assist in the achievement of a lasting peace by strengthening the growing international consensus on the issue of Palestinian statehood.”
It stated, “Trinidad and Tobago has a long history of principled support for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. The Government’s consistent position is that a two-State solution is the only way out of the ongoing cycle of violence.
“This is our consistent foreign policy position, which is founded on Trinidad and Tobago’s respect for and adherence to international law and to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
This support has been demonstrated through the endorsement by Trinidad and Tobago of key resolutions on Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the release stated.
It stated that such resolutions include Resolution 67/19, which accorded Palestine non-member observer state status in the UNGA, and the annual resolutions of the UNGA on the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources and the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine.
The ministry stated, “Since the outbreak of the most recent round of violent conflict in Gaza in October 2023, Trinidad and Tobago also supported resolutions adopted at the Emergency Special Sessions of the UNGA held on October 27 and December 10, 2023, on the protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations.”
During a press conference last year October, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said, “The position of Trinidad and Tobago on that matter remains the same. It is that we support the two-State policy, where peace and sustainable development can come to the people of the Middle East, Israel and its neighbours, recognising Israel’s right to exist and also the right of the Palestinians to a State of their own.
“That is Trinidad and Tobago’s position, that was our position. That is our position, war or no war, because we believe it is the only option, of all the options available, that provides any possibility for a recession of the hostility and the hatred to be replaced by peaceful coexistence.”
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