Question for written answer E-000502-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Ivan Jakovčić (ALDE)
While the Hala’ib Triangle between Egypt and the Republic of the Sudan continues to be the subject of diplomatic disputes, a small region known as Bir Tawil, adjacent to the Hala’ib Triangle, is the world’s last piece of unclaimed territory. Egypt claims the borders of the Hala’ib triangle as set by the 1899 treaty, which is much greater in area and north of the 22ndparallel, which governs the rest of its southern border. Sudan though also claims the area on the basis of the 1902 treaty.
Outside of Antarctica, Bir Tawil is the only piece of land that is not claimed by any nation. To complicate matters even further, de facto sovereignty of Bir Tawil fell to Egypt on the basis of the 1902 administrative boundaries, despite the fact that Egypt did not recognise the area as under its national sovereignty.
In 2014, an American named Jeremiah Heaton claimed the area and established the kingdom of North Sudan with a view to making his then 6-year-old daughter a princess. Heaton intends to work with the African Union to officially recognise the new kingdom in compliance with international law.
Does the Commission intend to adopt a position paper on the ‘free state’ of Bir Tawil?
