After 35 years, UN Mission in Western Sahara closes; Guterres warns of escalation risk

The UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara is ending after 35 years. Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday, November 1, that the mission would end after the Security Council failed to renew its mandate.

The mission, known as MINURSO, was set up in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Its mandate expired at midnight on Saturday, October 31, after the Council failed to agree on its future the day before.

The Council failed to adopt either of two competing draft resolutions. The Council had adopted a US-drafted resolution a year earlier that backed Morocco’s autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty as the “most feasible” solution.

Reports differ on the details of the vote. TRT World says Russia vetoed the US-drafted text even though 11 members voted in favour and three abstained. Reuters says the Council defeated a competing Russian resolution.

The reactions were sharply divided. Morocco, which claims Western Sahara as its own, welcomed the decision, and its royal palace called the non-renewal a “significant development” toward taking the issue off the Security Council’s agenda.

The Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state, said it was “concerned” at the deadlock.

Guterres struck a cautious tone. The UN announced that the mission’s liquidation phase had begun, to be overseen by a small task force within the Department of Operational Support, and urged all parties to cooperate so it finishes in an orderly way.

He reaffirmed the “inalienable” right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and warned of a risk of escalating hostilities, urging maximum restraint from all sides.

The end of the mission does not resolve the territory’s legal status, which remains on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Whether the ceasefire holds without monitors now looks like the key question.