Western Sahara UN peacekeeping mission winds down

The UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara is winding down after the Security Council failed for the first time in more than three decades to renew its mandate.

The mission, known as MINURSO, was created in 1991 to organise a self-determination referendum that has never taken place. Its mandate expired on October 31 after Russia and the United States vetoed rival Security Council resolutions.

Western Sahara was a Spanish colony until 1975. The territory is largely controlled by Morocco but has long been claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, and remains on the UN list of non-self-governing territories.

Washington proposed extending the mission while effectively dropping the referendum option and making Morocco's autonomy plan the basis for future talks. Eleven of the 15 Security Council members supported that approach, but Russia rejected it as one-sided.

Moscow sought to renew MINURSO unchanged, but Washington blocked that move. The United States recognised Western Sahara as Moroccan in 2020 when Rabat normalised ties with Israel under a deal backed by President Donald Trump.

Morocco welcomed the mission's end as “an important step toward the definitive closure” of the issue at the UN and said MINURSO's initial functions were now outdated. The Polisario Front said it would hold Morocco fully responsible for any serious repercussions for regional security.

Algeria said Russia's veto was inevitable and argued that the US proposal sought to legitimise what it called an occupation.

The UN has begun winding down MINURSO and said this month that the liquidation process should be completed as soon as possible. It said the mission's departure does not affect the Sahrawi people's inalienable right to self-determination.

Analysts cited in the item said the end of the mission could remove a long-standing buffer between Morocco and the Polisario, while Morocco may try to further normalise its control over Western Sahara and remove the territory from the UN list of non-self-governing territories.