UN Security Council extends mission in Western Sahara, urges “realistic” solution

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday voted to extend the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for an additional year, emphasizing the need for a “realistic” political solution in the contested region.

The U.S.-sponsored resolution, which passed with the support of 12 of the Security Council’s 15 members, will extend the mission until October 31, 2025. Algeria, a key regional player that had submitted two unsuccessful amendments to the resolution, abstained from voting in protest, while Russia and Mozambique also abstained.

In its statement, the Security Council underscored the “importance of aligning the strategic focus of MINURSO” and directed that the resources of the UN be targeted toward this objective in Western Sahara, a region the UN considers a “non-autonomous territory.”

Covering an area of approximately 103,000 square miles (266,000 square kilometers) north of Mauritania, the former Spanish colony is rich in mineral resources and has extensive fishing areas along its coast. Morocco currently holds control over the majority of the region, while around 20 percent remains under the Polisario Front, an independence movement that has sought autonomy for the territory since Spain’s departure in 1975.

Algeria, a staunch supporter of the Polisario Front, has long been at odds with Morocco over Western Sahara. Earlier this month, UN Envoy Staffan de Mistura put forward renewed efforts to divide the territory formally. However, the proposal was firmly rejected by the Polisario Front, which stated it would not accept any plan that failed to “ensure the inalienable, non-negotiable and imprescriptible right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.” The Polisario Front has long contended that the indigenous Sahrawi people should have the final say over the future of Western Sahara.