🔗 Share this article

UN's top security body has passed a US-backed resolution that favors Morocco's position regarding the contested Western Sahara, despite strong opposition from Algeria.

Split Vote Bolsters Moroccan Stance

While the recent decision was split, the resolution constitutes the most significant endorsement yet for Moroccan proposal to retain sovereignty over the region, which additionally has support from most European Union countries and a growing number of African nation allies.

Resolution Framework and Important Components

The resolution describes Moroccan plan as a basis for negotiation. Similar to previous resolutions, the text doesn't include a referendum on self-determination that contains independence as an choice, which represents the approach long supported by the independence-seeking Polisario movement and its allies.

Genuine self-rule under Morocco's authority could constitute a very feasible solution.

Historical Context

The territory is a mineral-rich area of coastline arid land the area of Colorado which was under Spanish control until 1975. It is claimed by both Morocco and the Polisario movement, which operates from refugee camps in southwestern neighboring Algeria and claims to speak for the indigenous people native to the contested territory.

Voting Patterns and Global Responses

The United States, which proposed the measure, led 11 countries in deciding in support, while 3 nations – Russia, China and Pakistan – abstained. Algeria, Polisario's main supporter, did not vote.

The US ambassador, the American ambassador to the UN, stated the decision had been "significant" and would "build on the progress for a long, long overdue peace in Western Sahara".

Amar Bendjama, the Algeria's ambassador to the United Nations, said that while the resolution was an improvement on previous versions, it "still has a number of shortcomings".

Peacekeeping Mission and Upcoming Assessment

The resolution also renews the United Nations security operation in Western Sahara for an additional twelve months, as has been done for over three decades. Prior extensions, however, have not included a reference to Moroccan and its allies' favored outcome.

The UN resolution urges all parties participating to "take this unprecedented chance for a enduring resolution." Depending on developments, it asks the secretary general to review the peacekeeping mission's authority within six months.

Regional Consequences and Current Conditions

The shift could unsettle a long-stalled process that for many years has escaped settlement, notwithstanding a United Nations security mission that was designed to be short-term. Protests have followed in Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria this recent period, where people have vowed not to abandon their struggle for self-determination.

Morocco administers nearly all of the territory, except for a thin area called the "liberated area" that lies east of a constructed by Morocco sand wall.

Historical Background and Current Events

A 1991 truce was meant to pave the way for a vote on self-determination, but fighting over participation criteria prevented it from occurring.

Through time, the Moroccan government has transformed the disputed territory, building a maritime facility and a 656-mile road. State support keep basic commodity costs affordable, and the resident count has grown significantly as Moroccans establish homes in urban areas such as major settlements.

The movement ended the ceasefire in 2020 after clashes near a road Morocco was paving to Mauritania.

The movement has subsequently regularly documented security activity, while Morocco has primarily rejected claims of active fighting. The UN calls it "low-level tensions".

International Diplomacy and Coming Prospects

In response to the draft resolution, Polisario stated that it would not join any initiative intending "to validate Morocco's illegal military occupation," saying resolution "can never be achieved by rewarding territorial claims".

The situation represents the driving force in regional diplomacy. Morocco considers support for its proposal as a standard for how it gauges its international partners.

Last October, the UN representative suggested partitioning the territory, a proposal neither side agreed to. He urged Morocco to specify what autonomy would involve and warned that a lack of progress might raise questions about the United Nations' function and "if there remains opportunity and willingness for us to remain useful."

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