Photo credit, AFP via Getty Images
Morocco has welcomed the end of a decades-long UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara after a diplomatic standoff between the United States and Russia prevented the Security Council from agreeing on its future.
The Security Council failed on Friday to renew the mandate of the United Nations Referendum Mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO), after Russia vetoed a proposal supported by the United States. A competing Russian bill to extend the mission also failed to garner enough votes.
The move raises questions about the future of Africa's longest territorial conflict and the fragile ceasefire between Morocco, which claims Western Sahara, and the Polisario Front, which has fought for the territory's independence for more than 50 years.
Here's what you need to know.
Why is Western Sahara contested?
Western Sahara, located on the northwest coast of Africa, was a Spanish colony until 1975. It has significant phosphate reserves and valuable fishing grounds along its Atlantic coast.
As Spain prepared to withdraw, Morocco and Mauritania both claimed the territory.
The International Court of Justice found historical ties of allegiance, but no territorial sovereignty that could obstruct the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people.
King Hassan II of Morocco responded by organizing the Green March. On November 6, 1975, approximately 350,000 Moroccan civilians entered Spanish territory in a mass demonstration intended to put pressure on Spain.
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A few days later, Spain signed the Madrid Accords with Morocco and Mauritania, agreeing to transfer administrative control to them. Morocco obtained the northern two thirds and Mauritania the southern third. The agreement did not resolve the question of sovereignty.
The Polisario Front, an independence movement founded in 1973, opposed this agreement. He saw it as a replacement of Spanish colonial rule with Moroccan and Mauritanian control.
Mauritania renounced its demands in 1979, but Morocco continued to fight the Polisario.
Algeria has become the Polisario's main regional ally, providing it with military support and hosting its leaders as well as thousands of Sahrawi refugees in camps near the town of Tindouf.
The North African country says its position is based on the right to self-determination, while Morocco considers Western Sahara to be an integral part of its territory.
Morocco and Algeria clashed in a brief border war in 1963, following disagreements over territory inherited from French colonial rule. Their relations have remained tense, with Western Sahara at the heart of their dispute.
What was the role of the UN mission?
After 16 years of fighting, Morocco and the Polisario agreed to a U.N.-brokered ceasefire in 1991, with territory divided by a sand wall, or berm, to keep rival forces separated.
The UN created MINURSO to monitor the ceasefire and organize a referendum on the future of the territory. The Sahrawis had to choose between independence and integration into Morocco.
The vote was scheduled for 1992 but never took place. The two camps have failed to agree on eligibility criteria, with disagreements over voter identification a major obstacle.
In 2007, Morocco presented an autonomy proposal, under which the Sahrawis would manage their internal affairs, while Rabat would retain control of defense and foreign relations.
Photo credit, Getty Images
The Polisario Front and Algeria rejected the plan, insisting on holding a referendum including independence as an option.
Years of negotiations under the auspices of the UN have failed to achieve a breakthrough.
The ceasefire was shattered in November 2020, when the Polisario announced the resumption of the armed struggle.
But following a lengthy diplomatic campaign led by Morocco, the UN Security Council voted in 2025 in favor of a resolution supporting the autonomy plan as the “most feasible” solution for the disputed territory.
While most Sahrawis live in the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara, tens of thousands of them are estimated to be in refugee camps in Algeria.
What happened at the UN?
The United States proposed extending MINURSO's mandate for another year, but its plan went beyond a simple renewal.
This would have consisted of removing the word "referendum" from the name of the mission and making Morocco's autonomy proposal the sole basis for subsequent negotiations.
The project received the support of 11 of the 15 members of the Security Council, including France and the United Kingdom, but Russia vetoed it, arguing that it was too favorable to Morocco.
Russia then proposed extending MINURSO's mandate without changing its terms. This project was also rejected, receiving only two votes in favor.
MINURSO's mandate expired on Saturday evening, October 31. The UN announced the next day that the mission had entered a liquidation phase, with a skeleton crew overseeing the transfer of military hardware and other assets.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination must be respected and warned of the risk of a resumption of hostilities.
The Polisario Front condemned the American proposal. Its representative, Sidi Omar, thanked Russia for vetoing it, saying it would “torpedo the foundations of the United Nations peace process” and threaten regional and international peace.
Morocco, for its part, said that the mission's personnel and equipment should leave the territory in the coming days, arguing that the question of Western Sahara should no longer be examined by the Security Council.
Minurso had 155 troops and was expected to cost $62m (£46m) in the financial year starting in June, according to a UN report.
Why is Morocco celebrating the end of the UN mission?
The royal palace of Morocco welcomed the non-renewal of Minurso's mandate.
In Laâyoune, the territory's largest city, images showed jubilant people, waving Moroccan flags and holding up portraits of King Mohammed VI.
“This decision offers Rabat the opportunity to challenge what it considers to be an international mechanism incapable of resolving the dispute,” Issam Laaroussi, a Moroccan expert in international relations, explains to the BBC.
He declared that Morocco would now have more room to maneuver to advance its autonomy proposal and direct negotiations, no longer towards a referendum on independence, but towards autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.
This decision does not, however, modify the legal status of Western Sahara and does not constitute international recognition of Moroccan sovereignty.
Western Sahara remains on the UN's list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, while the African Union officially recognizes its independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
But the decision comes after several countries lent their support to the position of Morocco, which in recent years has made obtaining international support for its claim a central element of its foreign policy.
In 2020, the United States recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara as part of an agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel.
France also supported Morocco's autonomy plan as a basis for resolving the dispute in 2024.
Morocco rejoined the African Union in 2017, more than thirty years after leaving its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, to protest the admission of the SADR.
Since his return, Rabat has tried to rally internal support for his position. At least ten African countries have opened diplomatic missions in the territory in support of Rabat.
“Morocco is not necessarily seeking to abandon the UN process, but to modify the framework of the negotiations and obtain greater support from regional organizations,” explains Laaroussi.
Speaking before a special joint session of Parliament on Monday, Speaker of the House of Representatives Ahmed Touizi hailed the end of Minurso as a victory for the country's diplomacy.
He said the country should now move from “managing the dispute to implementing its autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty, while continuing development projects in the territory.”
Could this lead to a new war?
There are fears that Minurso's departure could lead to a resumption of fighting.
The mission monitored developments in the military situation and helped reduce the risk of escalation.
Humanitarian organization Oxfam has warned that losing its monitoring and de-escalation role could undermine stability, with serious consequences for civilians.
Laaroussi acknowledges that the departure of the mission could create security vulnerabilities.
“The departure of Minurso does not create the initial conflict, because the conflict already exists, but it could worsen an already fragile security environment,” he says.
The UN decision also fueled nationalist rhetoric online.
Several Moroccan users shared images of themselves in military uniform, generated by artificial intelligence, declaring their readiness to fight for Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara.
In Morocco, Western Sahara is widely seen as a national cause. Political parties, often divided on other issues, unite to support the country's claim to sovereignty over this territory.
Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita declared that the end of the mission did not mean the end of the ceasefire and that Rabat remained committed to it “with respect for its security and sovereignty”.
Polisario has not indicated what it will do next.
Any resumption of fighting could well involve Algeria, as tensions with Morocco remain high.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), both countries significantly increased their military spending last year, with SIPRI citing their dispute over Western Sahara as a key factor.
Algeria reportedly spent around $25.4 billion, more than four times Morocco's $6.3 billion.
More information on Morocco:
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We used AI to help translate this article, originally written in English. A BBC journalist checked the translation before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
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