UN's top security body has passed a US-backed measure that endorses Morocco's position regarding the contested Western Sahara, despite significant opposition from Algeria.
Although the recent vote was divided, the measure represents the most significant support yet for Morocco's proposal to maintain sovereignty over the territory, which additionally has backing from most EU members and a growing number of African allies.
The resolution refers to Morocco's proposal as a foundation for talks. As with previous measures, the text makes no mention of a referendum on independence that includes independence as an option, which represents the solution long supported by the pro-independence Polisario Front and its supporters.
Real autonomy under Morocco's sovereignty could represent a most practical resolution.
The territory is a phosphate-rich stretch of coastline desert the area of a US state which was under Spain's rule until 1975. It is claimed by both the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front, which functions from refugee camps in southwestern Algeria and asserts to represent the Sahrawi people native to the disputed region.
The United States, which sponsored the resolution, led 11 countries in deciding in support, while three nations – multiple nations – declined to vote. The neighboring country, Polisario's main supporter, did not participate.
The US ambassador, the American representative to the UN, stated the decision had been "significant" and would "advance the progress for a much-delayed peace in the region".
Amar Bendjama, the Algeria's ambassador to the United Nations, commented that while the resolution was an improvement on previous versions, it "contains a series of shortcomings".
The measure also renews the United Nations security operation in the territory for an additional year, as has been done for over three decades. Previous renewals, however, have not contained a reference to Moroccan and its allies' favored outcome.
The UN resolution calls on all sides involved to "seize this unprecedented chance for a enduring resolution." Depending on developments, it asks the secretary general to review the operation's authority within half a year.
The shift could disrupt a long-stalled process that for decades has escaped settlement, notwithstanding a United Nations peacekeeping mission that was intended to be temporary. Protests have ensued in Sahrawi settlements in the neighboring country this week, where residents have pledged not to abandon their struggle for independence.
The Moroccan government controls nearly all of the territory, except for a narrow strip called the "free zone" that lies east of a Moroccan-built barrier.
A 1991 ceasefire was intended to facilitate a referendum on independence, but disagreements over participation criteria prevented it from occurring.
Through time, Morocco has developed the contested region, building a maritime facility and a 656-mile highway. Government subsidies keep food and energy costs affordable, and the population has ballooned as Moroccan citizens establish homes in urban areas such as Dakhla and Laayoune.
Polisario withdrew from the truce in 2020 after clashes near a route the government was constructing to neighboring Mauritania.
The movement has subsequently frequently documented military activity, while Morocco has primarily denied open conflict. The UN describes it "low-level hostilities".
Reacting to the proposed measure, the movement stated that it would not join any process aiming "to 'legitimise' Morocco's unauthorized presence," adding peace "cannot happen by supporting expansionism".
The conflict constitutes the central issue in regional diplomacy. The Moroccan government considers support for its autonomy plan as a standard for how it gauges its allies.
Last October, the UN representative proposed partitioning the territory, a proposal neither side agreed to. He urged Morocco to specify what autonomy would entail and cautioned that a lack of progress might question the UN's function and "if there remains opportunity and willingness for us to still be useful."
The initiative to reassess the United Nations Mission comes as the United States reduces funding for UN programmes and agencies, including peacekeeping.
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