Opening the World Order to de facto States
Limits and Potentialities of de facto States in the International Context
15 May 2008
European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium
On 15 May 2008, UNPO hosted the conference "Opening the World Order to De facto States" in the European Parliament, Brussels.
Attendees at the conference included Graham Watson, Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the ALDE Group, Marco Panella, Member of the European Parliament and Leader of the Nonviolent Radical Party, Michael Kau, Representative of Taiwan to the European Union and Belgium, Maxim Gunjia, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia, Mohamoud Daar, Representative of the Republic of Somaliland to the European Union, Scott Pegg, Associate Professor, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Marino Busdachin, Secretary General, UNPO.
Below is the text of the UNPO Declaration on De facto States, prepared in consultation with the de facto states representatives and speakers present at the conference:
- Declaration -
Recognising that beyond the confines of the world’s internationally recognised State borders exist entities without official recognition as States, yet who possess many or all of the traditional empirical criteria for statehood and sometimes even function as States in international fora.
Recognising that these de facto states may have their own democratically elected government, political system, laws, judiciary, police force, defence force, currency, foreign representation, or all of the above, independent of any officially recognised State in whose (claimed or sovereign) territory they may lie.
Recognising that many sovereign States are not in favour of opening up the World Order to de facto states.
UNPO has convened this conference, not to address whether or not these entities should be independent and sovereign, which is a very complex and controversial matter, but to deal with the reality that these pockets of the world do exist and function, to varying degrees, as states, and the practical implications of this fact.
This conference will show that, without full access to the World Order, both the peoples of these de facto states and the international community at large suffer. We suffer in terms of trade and investment, international security, health, safety and the prosecution of transnational, international and domestic crime. Negligence towards de facto states harms human rights and human dignity.
On a domestic level, examples of this suffering can be seen in the obvious consequences to the commercial sector of the de facto state lacking an internationally recognised central bank, the health of the peoples of the de facto state suffering because, for example, the de facto state entity is denied access to the World Health Organisation, or their safety being jeopardised by the de facto state airline having to conduct its air traffic controlling from a neighbouring State.
On an international level, the practical implications of the restricted access of de facto states to the World Order are more profound still. Obviously, whilst the very same domestic concerns mentioned can have wide-ranging international consequences, in a globalised world, the dangers created by the legal voids that these areas represent in international security and crime should be of grave concern to all State governments.
This conference, then, brings together officials from unrecognised governments with the main aim of creating and sustaining permanent mechanisms of involvement and consultation of unrecognised state entities in the international community, for the benefit not only of the peoples of these de facto states, but for the international community at large.
It is the sincere hope of UNPO that following on from this conference, a series of consultations between de facto states and between de facto and sovereign States can begin
Southern Cameroons Demonstration Held |
Wednesday, 21 May 2008 |
Southern Cameroons National Council. Demonstration at the Council of the European Union: Friday, 16 May 2008.
On Friday, 16 May 2008, the Arc de Triomphe in Brussels, Belgium was the backdrop to an emotive demonstration calling for intervention by the European Union (EU) in the human rights abuses being carried out by the Republic of Cameroon against its own citizens, the people of the Southern Cameroons.
Passers-by stopped in their tracks at the impressive sight of a collection of the Southern Cameroons diaspora from all over Europe, including from as far as Cyprus, wearing their vibrant, traditional headwear and robes, and the sound of a beautiful chorus of African voices singing “Tell me your country if you don’t know Southern Cameroons.”
Following the singing, Dr. Nfor Ngala Nfor faced the front of the Council of the European Union and made a passionate plea for EU intervention into the crisis in Southern Cameroons. The plea included requests for the following action:
1) Mediation by the EU in the political conflict and assistance in brokering peace between the two peoples and nations by ending annexation and colonial occupation.
2) The release of all SCNC prisoners of conscience by la Republique du Cameroun.
3) Respect for the rights of Southern Cameroonians to freedom of assembly and expression by la Republique du Cameroun proconsuls
Defence of the rights of the oppressed Southern Cameroonians to autonomy by the EU and all its member nations
The singing was so beautiful and Dr. Nfor’s plea so empassioned that a representative of the Secretary General of the European Council, Marcos Becerro, came down to the street from the Council building to receive a petition prepared by the Southern Cameroons National Council. The petition called for EU intervention and leadership in ending state-sponsored repression and achieving autonomy for the people of Southern Cameroons.
The UNPO flag was displayed proudly throughout the demonstration, which was attended by several representatives of other UNPO Member nations, whose show of solidarity not only lifted the spirits of the Southern Cameroonians, but was a tremendous illustration of how UNPO can be used as a platform for member nations to increase the profile of their individual plights through reminding the world of their collective goal of increased political representation.
Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC)
The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) is the representative body of the Southern Cameroons, an internationally unrecognized nation of approximately six million inhabitants, bordering Nigeria to the west and north-west, La Republique du Cameroun to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.
SCNC has been a Member Organization of the UNPO since 2004.
Southern Cameroons
In a 1961 UN-sanctioned plebiscite, British-colonized Southern Cameroons voted to become a union with French-colonized Cameroun, enjoying autonomous status under a federal system. However, in 1972, the Republique du Cameroun effectively annexed Southern Cameroons by holding another plebiscite that made Cameroon a unitary, rather than a federal state, transferring all power to the central government in Yaounde and dividing Southern Cameroons into two new administrative provinces of this unitary state, effectively disenfranchising Southern Cameroons as a political entity.
Repression and gross human rights abuses by the central government against the Southern Cameroons have since ensued. The repression includes, but is not limited to, arbitrary detention and execution, economic, cultural and linguistic repression and lack of freedom to assembly and expression.
Marcos Becerro receiving the SCNC Petition from Dr. Nfor Ngala Nfor
Why the European Union?
The EU has shown leadership in mediating between de facto and sovereign states, including Kosova, the Kurds in Turkey and other minority regions within sovereign states in Europe. Furthermore, the current situation in Southern Cameroons is in part a product of German, British and French colonization in the region. The decolonization process is clearly not complete. It is therefore appropriate that the EU take a lead role in redressing this unjust situation.
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