爲圓女兒公主夢 美國男子非洲沙漠插旗建國

WHEN a dad promised his seven-year-old daughter she would be a real princess, he wasn’t kidding.

Jeremiah Heaton travelled to a remote desert region of Africa to claim a disputed stretch of land in his daughter Emily’s name.

In a move that is either an inspiring display of paternal love or a case of major over-indulgence, Mr Heaton planted a flag in the unclaimed piece of land sandwiched between Egypt and Sudan after making a promise to Emily that she would one day be royalty.

After reaching the desert region of Bir Tawil in June, the father-of-three from Virginia planted a flag his children had designed, and made the first steps towards claiming the land.

On his return Mr Heaton and his wife made a crown for their daughter and asked friends and family to refer to her as Princess Emily.

Her kingdom covers about 1300km sq of desert that has never been claimed by Sudan or Egypt.

Mr Heaton found Bir Tawil, one of the last unclaimed pieces of land on the planet, after searching for how he could fulfil his promise to Emily.

Several attempts to claim ownership of the region have been made online, but Mr Heaton believes that by actually travelling to the site and planting the flag gave his claim an edge.

It took Mr Heaton 14 hours to travel by caravan through the desert before he could plant the flag, which has a blue background and a seal and stars representing the family.

He may have completed his journey in June, but it began at the start of the year when he was chatting to his young daughter.

“Over the winter, Emily and I were playing, and she has a fixation on princesses. She asked me, in all seriousness, if she’d be a real princess someday,” Heaton said. “And I said she would.”

Princess Emily, who sleeps in a custom-made castle bed, is showing signs of being a generous ruler, and said that she wants to ensure children in the region have enough food.

Shelia Carapico, professor of political science and international studies at the University of Richmond, said the family’s claim will need to be recognised by the other African nations.

She said it was not plausible for someone to plant a flag and say they have political control over the land without legal recognition from neighbouring countries, the United Nations or other groups.

In addition, she said, it is not known whether people have ownership of the land, regardless of whether the property is part of a political nation.當一名父親承諾將自己七歲的女兒變成真正的公主時，他並不是在開玩笑。

爲圓女兒的公主夢，美國弗吉尼亞州男子耶利米·希頓竟不惜遠赴非洲，在埃及與蘇丹之間的一片無主沙漠，插上3名子女設計的“國旗”，並宣佈成立北蘇丹王國。

據希頓稱，去年冬天他與女兒艾米麗在家中聊天，自小就做“公主夢”的艾米麗非常認真地問：“我將來會否成爲真正的公主？”

希頓愛女心切，稱她終有一天會達成願望。爲了這一承諾，希頓立即上網尋找世界各地的無政府領土。最終希頓找到了蘇丹與埃及之間的比爾泰維勒（Bir Tawil），這裏1300平方公里的沙漠尚未被任何國家認領。

於是，在今年6月16日艾米麗7歲生日這天，希頓取得埃及同意後，乘坐大篷車取道該國長途跋涉14個小時來到這裏，插上3個子女設計的“國旗”，並宣佈建立北蘇丹王國。

希頓稱：“我想讓孩子們知道，爲了實現他們的願望，我願意走到世界盡頭。”

回到家以後，希頓與妻子爲女兒製作了一頂皇冠，並要求朋友和家人從此稱她爲艾米麗公主。

真以爲自己當了公主的艾米麗目前睡在定製的城堡牀上，並希望自己領地的小孩能夠過上溫飽生活。

雖然有多人在網上宣稱擁有這塊沙漠的主權，但他相信親自來到這裏並插上“國旗”會讓他更具優勢。但美國里士滿大學政治與國際研究教授Shelia Carapico稱，希頓一家若想對這塊沙漠擁有政治控制權，需要獲得鄰國、聯合國或其它團體的法律認可。

希頓打算先與非洲聯盟接觸，以便正式建立北蘇丹王國，並說有信心可獲得非洲聯盟歡迎與協助。埃及與蘇丹駐華盛頓大使館皆未就此發表評論。

希頓說，他藉由插國旗來宣稱取得比爾泰維勒的行爲完全合法，因爲此舉正是包括美國在內的其他國家當年取得領土的方式，差別在於過去這些擴張領土的歷史是戰爭行爲，而他則是基於對子女的愛。