The UN Security Council has approved a US-backed resolution that supports Morocco's claim regarding the contested territory, notwithstanding significant resistance from neighboring Algeria.
Although Friday's vote was divided, the resolution represents the strongest support yet for Morocco's plan to retain sovereignty over the region, which also has backing from most EU members and a increasing number of African nation allies.
The document describes Moroccan plan as a basis for negotiation. As with previous resolutions, the text doesn't include a referendum on independence that includes independence as an option, which constitutes the approach traditionally supported by the pro-independence Polisario Front and its allies.
Genuine autonomy under Morocco's sovereignty could constitute a very feasible resolution.
Western Sahara is a mineral-rich stretch of coastal arid land the size of a US state which was under Spain's control until the mid-1970s. It is claimed by both the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front, which functions from refugee camps in south-western neighboring Algeria and asserts to represent the indigenous people indigenous to the contested region.
The United States, which sponsored the resolution, led 11 countries in voting in favor, while three countries – multiple nations – abstained. Algeria, Polisario's primary supporter, did not vote.
Mike Waltz, the US representative to the United Nations, said the decision had been "historic" and would "advance the momentum for a much-delayed peace in Western Sahara".
Amar Bendjama, the Algeria's ambassador to the UN, commented that while the measure was an improvement on previous iterations, it "still has a series of deficiencies".
The measure also extends the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara for an additional year, as has been implemented for more than three decades. Previous renewals, though, have not contained a reference to Morocco and its allies' preferred resolution.
The UN resolution urges all parties involved to "seize this unique chance for a enduring peace." Depending on developments, it requests the secretary general to assess the peacekeeping mission's mandate within six months.
The change could disrupt a long-stalled situation that for decades has eluded settlement, desdespite a UN security operation that was intended to be short-term. Protests have followed in indigenous refugee camps in the neighboring country this week, where residents have vowed not to abandon their struggle for independence.
The Moroccan government administers almost all of Western Sahara, excluding a narrow strip called the "free zone" that lies to the east of a Moroccan-built sand wall.
A 1991 truce was meant to facilitate a referendum on self-determination, but disagreements over participation criteria prevented it from occurring.
Over the years, Morocco has developed the contested territory, constructing a maritime facility and a 656-mile road. Government support keep basic commodity prices affordable, and the resident count has grown significantly as Moroccan citizens establish homes in urban areas such as Dakhla and Laayoune.
Polisario ended the truce in 2020 after clashes near a road Morocco was constructing to Mauritania.
The movement has since regularly documented security activity, while the government has primarily rejected claims of open conflict. The UN calls it "limited hostilities".
In response to the draft resolution, the movement said that it would not participate in any initiative intending "to validate Moroccan unauthorized military occupation," saying peace "can never be achieved by rewarding territorial claims".
The conflict represents the central issue in regional diplomacy. Morocco views support for its autonomy plan as a standard for how it assesses its international partners.
Recently, the UN envoy proposed partitioning Western Sahara, a proposal no party accepted. He urged the government to specify what autonomy would entail and warned that a absence of progress might question the UN's function and "if there remains opportunity and willingness for us to remain useful."
The initiative to reassess the United Nations Mission comes as the US slashes funding for United Nations initiatives and agencies, covering peacekeeping.
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