Western Sahara UN peacekeeping mission shuts down as mandate expires

The long-running United Nations peacekeeping deployment in Western Sahara is shutting down after the Security Council failed to extend its operating mandate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Sunday.

The termination concludes a 35-year presence by the operation, officially known as the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, or MINURSO. Guterres said that a liquidation phase began on November 1, during which equipment and assets will be repatriated to nations that contributed personnel.

The shutdown follows diplomatic paralysis within the UN Security Council. Russia exercised its veto power against an American-sponsored draft resolution that sought to reinforce international support for Morocco's proposed autonomy plan while trimming peacekeeper numbers. Council members subsequently rejected an alternative resolution drafted by Moscow, resulting in the expiration of the mandate without an extension.

The impasse reflects deepening geopolitical divisions over the contested region. A year earlier, the Security Council had backed a US-drafted measure endorsing Rabat's proposal for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the most realistic path to resolve the dispute, an outcome Russia had abstained from.

Reactions across the region highlighted the stark rift over the territory. Morocco, which asserts sovereignty over Western Sahara, welcomed the mission's conclusion. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita described the referendum component in MINURSO's title as outdated and suggested the shift offered a chance to reassess diplomatic frameworks. The Moroccan royal palace also characterized the end of the mandate as an important move toward removing the dispute from the Security Council's agenda.

In contrast, the pro-independence Polisario Front, which has fought for an independent state since Spain withdrew from the colony in 1976, expressed alarm over the Council's deadlock. Neighboring Algeria, which backs the Polisario movement, conveyed deep regret regarding the mandate's lapse and criticized what it described as excessive bias by the United States toward Rabat.

MINURSO had been deployed in 1991 following a ceasefire negotiated by the United Nations. Alongside observing the truce, its central objective was to hold a self-determination vote for the population, but that referendum never materialized because of protracted disputes regarding who was eligible to cast a ballot.