The United Nations is ending its 35-year peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara after the Security Council failed to agree on renewing its mandate, UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Sunday.
The decision brings an end to the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front and organise a referendum on the territory's future.
Guterres said 1 November marks the beginning of the mission's liquidation phase, during which equipment and other assets would be returned to countries that contributed troops.
The mission's closure follows a diplomatic deadlock at the UN Security Council. Russia vetoed a U.S.-backed resolution that would have reinforced the Council's preference for Morocco's autonomy proposal while reducing the size of the peacekeeping force.
A competing Russian resolution also failed to secure sufficient support, leaving MINURSO's mandate to expire.
The outcome comes a year after the Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution describing Morocco's proposal to grant Western Sahara autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the “most feasible” solution to the longstanding dispute.
Morocco welcomed the mission's closure, describing it as a significant development in its efforts to resolve the Western Sahara dispute. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita argued that the referendum component of MINURSO's mandate had become an “anachronism”, reflecting Rabat's opposition to holding a vote on independence.
Morocco's royal palace said the decision represented progress towards removing the Western Sahara issue from the Security Council's agenda.
Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front's demand for self-determination, expressed “deep regret” over the non-renewal and accused Washington of excessive bias towards Morocco. The Polisario Front also expressed concern over the Security Council deadlock.
Western Sahara has been disputed since Spain withdrew from the territory in 1976.
Morocco claims sovereignty over the region and proposes autonomy under Moroccan rule, while the Polisario Front seeks independence.
Although MINURSO was established to oversee a referendum on self-determination, the vote never took place because of disagreements over voter eligibility.
The mission's closure ends more than three decades of UN peacekeeping operations in the territory, but does not resolve the underlying dispute over Western Sahara's political status.
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