UN peacekeeping mandate in Western Sahara set to lapse

The mandate of the UN peacekeepers in Western Sahara is set to expire on Saturday after Russia and the United States vetoed each other’s draft resolutions on extending the mission.

The peacekeeping force, known as Minurso, was established in 1991 and as of June this year comprised 359 civilian and military personnel, according to its website.

The Western Sahara conflict has pitted Morocco against Polisario Front separatists, backed by Algeria, for 50 years.

The US had put forward a text, supported by 11 of the 15 UN Security Council members, to extend the mission for one year. It would have put a Moroccan autonomy plan at the center of efforts to settle the conflict.

This change of approach would have changed the name of the force from Minurso to Minuso, dropping mention of a referendum on the territory’s self-determination.

Russia on Friday blocked that draft resolution, criticising a “unilateral approach,” and proposed renewing the mission’s mandate under the same terms as before.

The US vetoed the Russian proposal, and the countries that supported the American resolution abstained.

“Some members of this council have used their veto to preserve the letter ‘R’ — for the referendum — and the name that the United Nations hasn’t even been preparing to hold for decades,” said US ambassador Mike Waltz.

The representative of France, Jerome Bonnafont, denounced “Russia’s obstruction”.

British ambassador Sarah MacIntosh urged “those who did not support the US resolution to seek to find a solution on the basis of that draft.”

Morocco’s Royal Cabinet on Friday welcomed the nonrenewal of the peacekeeping mandate and said this “should mark the end of the Security Council’s involvement and the removal of this issue from its agenda.”

Algeria’s representative to the UN, Amar Bendjama, thanked Russia “as well as all the countries that chose not to be associated with such a blatant injustice.”

He affirmed that Algeria would continue to promote “a solution that guarantees the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination,” referring to an ethnic group native to Western Sahara.

The Polisario Front’s representative in New York, Sidi Omar, also expressed his “satisfaction” following the rejection of the US resolution.

Last year, the Security Council under US leadership gave unprecedented support to Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, deeming it the “most feasible” solution, despite Algeria’s hostility.

Presented by Rabat in 2007, the plan envisions autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty for the vast desert territory.

Until then, the council had been urging Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania to resume negotiations, which had been suspended since 2019.

Western Sahara, a Spanish colony until 1975, is largely controlled by Morocco but is considered a non-self-governing territory by the UN.

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.