Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads
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The Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads was a micronation in the Spratly Islands established by Christopher Schneider in 1959. Schneider intended to replace the earlier Kingdom of Humanity, in which he succeeded: the other micronation was absorbed in 1963, leaving Schneider as "chief of state" and Morton F. Mead, the former "king" as proposed ambassador to the United Nations.[1] The term Songhrati denotes the people of the republic.
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[edit] History
The republic's history begins with Capt. James George Meads, who laid claim to the Islands in the late 1860s (despite earlier claims by other nations). Meads named the tiny nation the "Kingdom of Humanity". Meads also claimed to have signed several treaties giving his government legitimacy: Treaty of Southwark (1893), the Treaty of Kuching (1897), and the Churchill-Ryant Agreement (1994).[2][3][1] In 1959, The Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads formed anew. After a short dispute, the two merged under the new name in November 1963, with Christopher Schneider its first Chief of State.[1] The state claims that Schneider and his entire cabinet perished on June 15, 1972 when their ship, which was headed for Manila enroute to New York to plead their case before the United Nations, was hit by typhoon "Konsing" and sank off the coast of Mindoro. It was after this tragedy that China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines invaded and divided their nation.[4]
[edit] Current Status
The Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads has vowed to continue pursuing their claim on the disputed Spratly islands, which they claim was illegally taken from them by seven countries -Philippines, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and France. Their government-in-exile is currently in Australia.[4] The government-in-exile vowed "to continue lobbying at the United Nations and the governments of the world to stop the illegal occupation of their country and the economic exploitation of their resources."[4]
"While the Songhrati government congratulated themselves on their good fortune and began to draft environmental impact studies for the proposed extraction of the oil reserves, neighboring nations envious of our good fortune began to plot the downfall of our sovereign nation," the nation's website said. They further claimed that throughout the early 1970’s, the armed forces of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines encroached on their maritime boundaries and illegally signed contracts with multinational oil companies. Afterwards, they claimed that "it was only a matter of time" before different surrounding countries invaded their islands.[4]
The government in exile claims that Songhrati citizens are currently in diaspora. Many of them are said to have settled in Australia, together with their government-in-exile. However, some are alleged to have settled in other parts of Asia, North America and Europe.
[edit] See also
[edit] External Links
[edit] Further reading
- Marwyn S. Samuels, Contest for the South China Sea. (1982)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c History of Spratly Islands
- ^ The Struggle For Freedom
- ^ Putative States in the Spratly Archipelago
- ^ a b c d Echeminada, Perseus (2008-03-09). "‘Lost republic’ revives claim on Spratlys" (subscription required). Philippine Star.
