Occupation of the Falkland Islands Six days later, on 20 June, British forces landed on the South Sandwich Islands and Southern Thule where 10 unarmed Argentines handed over their station. 649 Argentines, 255 Brits and 3 Falkland Islanders died during the war. The Argentine Administration officially continued to exist until 15 May 1985 when it was dissolved by President Raúl Alfonsín. Since then, Argentina has claimed the islands are part of Tierra del Fuego (then an Argentine National Territory) which became a fully-fledged province of Argentina in 1990. Occupation of the Falkland Islands The occupation of the Falkland Islands and of South Georgia and the
Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute was held in London, where the British delegation "formally rejected" the Argentine Ambassador's suggestion that the UK's occupation of the Islands was illegal. On 2 December 1980, Nicholas Ridley, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, stated in the House of Commons: "We have no doubt about our sovereignty over the Falkland Islands... we have a perfectly valid title". The British government regards the right of the islanders to self-determination as "paramount" and rejects the idea of negotiations over sovereignty without the islanders' consent. Supporters of the British position argue: The Constitution of the Falkland Islands, which came