🔗 Share this article

The UN Security Council has passed a US-backed measure that supports Moroccan position regarding the contested Western Sahara, despite strong resistance from neighboring Algeria.

Divided Decision Bolsters Moroccan Position

While the recent vote was divided, the resolution represents the most significant support yet for Morocco's proposal to maintain sovereignty over the territory, which also has support from most European Union countries and a increasing number of African allies.

Measure Structure and Key Elements

The document describes Moroccan plan as a foundation for talks. Similar to earlier resolutions, the text makes no mention of a vote on self-determination that contains sovereignty as an option, which represents the approach long favored by the independence-seeking Polisario movement and its supporters.

Genuine autonomy under Morocco's sovereignty could constitute a most practical solution.

Background Context

Western Sahara is a phosphate-rich stretch of coastal arid land the size of a US state which was under Spanish control until the mid-1970s. It is asserted by both the Moroccan government and the Polisario movement, which operates from temporary settlements in southwestern Algeria and asserts to represent the indigenous people indigenous to the contested territory.

Voting Results and Global Responses

The US, which sponsored the resolution, guided 11 countries in deciding in favor, while 3 countries – multiple nations – abstained. Algeria, Polisario's main supporter, did not participate.

The US ambassador, the American representative to the United Nations, stated the vote had been "historic" and would "advance the momentum for a much-delayed resolution in Western Sahara".

The Algerian ambassador, the Algerian representative to the United Nations, commented that while the resolution was an improvement on previous versions, it "still has a series of shortcomings".

Peacekeeping Mission and Future Review

The resolution also extends the United Nations security mission in Western Sahara for an additional year, as has been implemented for over three decades. Prior renewals, though, have not included a reference to Morocco and its supporters' favored outcome.

The UN resolution urges all parties involved to "take this unprecedented opportunity for a lasting peace." Depending on developments, it requests the UN leader to review the peacekeeping mission's authority within six months.

Regional Impact and Present Conditions

The change could disrupt a protracted process that for many years has escaped settlement, notwithstanding a United Nations security operation that was designed to be short-term. Demonstrations have followed in indigenous settlements in the neighboring country this recent period, where residents have vowed not to give up their struggle for independence.

Morocco administers almost all of the territory, excluding a narrow area known as the "liberated area" that lies east of a Moroccan-built barrier.

Past Background and Recent Developments

A 1991 ceasefire was meant to facilitate a referendum on self-determination, but disagreements over voter eligibility blocked it from occurring.

Over the years, Morocco has transformed the contested territory, building a deepwater port and a 656-mile road. State subsidies keep food and energy costs affordable, and the population has ballooned as Moroccan citizens establish homes in urban areas such as major settlements.

Polisario withdrew from the truce in 2020 after confrontations near a route the government was paving to Mauritania.

The group has subsequently regularly reported military activity, while Morocco has primarily rejected claims of active fighting. The United Nations calls it "low-level tensions".

International Diplomacy and Future Possibilities

Reacting to the draft resolution, the movement said that it would not participate in any process aiming "to 'legitimise' Morocco's unauthorized presence," saying peace "cannot happen by supporting territorial claims".

The situation constitutes the central issue in north African international relations. Morocco views endorsement of its autonomy plan as a standard for how it assesses its international partners.

Recently, the UN envoy suggested partitioning Western Sahara, a proposal no party agreed to. He urged the government to specify what self-rule would involve and cautioned that a absence of development might question the UN's role and "if there remains opportunity and readiness for us to remain useful."

The initiative to reassess the UN operation comes as the US slashes funding for UN programmes and agencies, covering peacekeeping.