Republic of Lomar

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The Regency of Lomar Foundation. previously the Republic of Lomar Foundation, is an international non-governmental organization originally dedicated to refugee assistance and documentation. Renamed “Regency of Lomar (Foundation) in 2003, its current focus is more that of a traditional humanitarian NGO. Since its inception and throughout the past decade, ROLF can be described as an experience in Christian-social activism.

The NGO is headquartered in Leinau, Germany, under the care and leadership of president Dom Klaus Schlapps OPR (2003-current), an abbot general of the St. Severin's Abbey, which is an Old Catholic abbey in full communion with the Union of Ultrecht, and the Anglican Communion worldwide. Its French branch is known as “Fédération Humanitaire République de Lomar”, where LOMAR stands for “Libre Organisation Mondiale d’Assistance aux Réfugiés” (Free International Association for Refugee Assistance).

[edit] Current status and activities

Since 2003, ROLF has been renamed “Regency of Lomar (Foundation)” to avoid any confusion with micronational groups. It is active in Africa and South America where it operates relief and medical operations. Some of the key community and humanitarian aid projects are carried out in Kumbo, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso, together with local partner Navti Foundation NGO.

ROLF/FHRL is under the patronage of several personalities, including Former French Education and Culture Minister Jack Lang,Aline Koala, Minister of Culture in the government of Burkina Faso, Princess Angela Fugger von Glott and Prince Nguyen Phuc Buu Phuc.

[edit] Origins and History

ROLF began in Silicon Valley as a micronation or online community in 1998 and was incorporated as a non-profit organization named The Republic of Lomar Foundation (ROLF) which then became its normative name. The founding president was Laurent Cleenewerck (1998-2002). The ROLF quickly moved away from its initial micronational origins and took on the mission of continuing and modernizing the vision of Nobel Prize winner Fridtjof Nansen, the inventor of the famous Nansen Refugee Passport. The ROLF refugee passport was introduced in 1999.

The idea of a micronation or virtual community dedicated to offering an alternative citizenship to refugees with its own passport and stamps met great interest in the media, especially in Finland, since the lion on the Lomar crest was originally identical to the one found on the Finnish coat of arms. At the request of a Finish official, the lion was considerably modified to be clearly distinguishable from that of Finland. In addition, the bird on the seal and passport is very similar (almost undistinguishable) to the Republic of Indonesia's coat of arms except the lion in the crest. Worldwide media coverage created great interest in the ideas promoted by ROLF, which results in more than 15,000 applications for “Lomar citizenship”. According to the organization, only very few passports were actually issued.

One of ROLF’s main objective was to obtain diplomatic recognition for its documents and if possible as a sovereign entity, not unlike the Knights Hospitaller (Order to Malta) and the World Service Authority. The organization was unsuccessful in achieving the level of recognition of the World Service Authority passport (once legally recognized by 6 United Nations member states). On the other hand, some countries did grant travel visas on a case by case basis. In the many countries, the ROLF laissez-passer was considered as a personal identification booklet and not a valid travel document.

In a letter acknowledging receipt of a sample ROLF passport, the US FBI acknowledged the responsibility of ROLF for this communication and carefully described the document as a “booklet”. ROLF also set up a special database access for US law enforcement to allow authorized agencies to screen registrations and applications.

By 2001, ROLF had registered close to 20,000 “citizens” and received considerable and positive press coverage. In Nigeria, a group of unauthorized individuals began to sell citizenship applications with the promise that selected applicants would be granted immigration rights to North America. When news of this situation reached the ROLF administration, the web site was shut down and a meeting was arranged with the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC to address the crisis.

The Nigerian issue was soon contained, but the credibility of the organization had been damaged. Moreover, the near impossibility of managing a safe refugee passport issuance program in the wake of the 9/11 attacks effectively put an end to the ROLF experience as an issuer of refugee passports.

In 2002 and 2003, ROLF was inactive to allow for a transitional effort to a new leadership with a focus on more traditional humanitarian efforts.