UN begins shutting its Western Sahara mission after 35 years as Security Council fails to renew MINURSO
MINURSO's mandate lapsed at midnight on October 31 after rival US and Russian drafts failed. Morocco welcomed it; the Polisario Front blames Rabat.
At a glance
- The UN mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, entered a winding-down phase on November 1 after its mandate expired at midnight on October 31.
- On October 30 Russia vetoed a US draft that won 11 votes and would have renamed the mission and dropped its referendum task; a rival Russian draft fell well short of the nine votes needed.
- China, Pakistan and Somalia abstained on the US text.
- Morocco called the outcome a significant step towards taking the dispute off the Security Council's agenda; the Polisario Front said Rabat and its allies bear full responsibility.
- UN envoy Staffan de Mistura keeps his political role, and any Council member can still table a new resolution.
The United Nations has started closing its peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, ending a 35-year presence in the disputed territory, after the Security Council failed to agree on renewing it. The mandate of MINURSO, the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, expired at midnight on Saturday, October 31, and the mission moved into what Secretary-General António Guterres called a winding-down phase on November 1.
A reduced team will now send home equipment that belongs to the countries that supplied troops and observers, and dispose of the UN's own assets. Guterres said the organisation "stands ready" to keep backing a political settlement, and that his personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura, would carry on with that work.
How two drafts failed in one afternoon
The Council voted on Friday, October 30, on two rival texts. Neither passed.
| Draft | What it proposed | Vote | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Renew for a year to October 31, 2027; rename the mission MINUSO and drop the referendum task; peacekeeping role to end on April 30, 2027, followed by a six-month political mission | 11 for, 1 against (Russia), 3 abstentions (China, Pakistan, Somalia) | Blocked by Russia's veto |
| Russia | Extend MINURSO unchanged for a year | 3 for, 11 abstentions | Fell short of the nine votes needed |
Nine votes and no veto from a permanent member are needed to adopt a resolution. The US text had the numbers but not Moscow's consent. The American draft would have removed the referendum, which has been the "R" in the mission's name since 1991. Most Council members, in turn, declined to back Russia's plain rollover.
Pakistan's abstention on the US draft repeated its position from 2025, when it also abstained, together with China and Russia, on Resolution 2797.
What MINURSO did, and what changes now
The mission was created in April 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the movement that seeks independence for the former Spanish colony, and to organise a vote in which the territory's people would choose between independence and integration with Morocco. That referendum was never held. The two sides could never agree on who should be allowed to vote.
For three decades MINURSO's military observers patrolled both sides of the long sand berm that divides the territory. Morocco controls most of Western Sahara, including the coast, its phosphate deposits and its fishing waters. The Polisario Front holds a thinly populated strip in the east and runs refugee camps around Tindouf in Algeria.
The 1991 ceasefire broke down in November 2020 after a confrontation at the Guerguerat border crossing, and low-level fighting has continued since. With MINURSO gone, there is no independent international presence to monitor incidents along the berm or report them to New York. Guterres has warned that the end of the mission could lead to military escalation, and the aid group Oxfam said losing the UN's monitoring role risked undermining security and stability.
Rabat calls it progress, Polisario cries foul
Morocco welcomed the outcome. Its royal palace described the non-renewal as a significant development towards removing the Western Sahara question from the Security Council's agenda. Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita had already called the mission's referendum mandate an anachronism. Rabat's position is that its 2007 autonomy plan, under which the territory would govern itself under Moroccan sovereignty, is the only basis for a deal. The United States recognised Moroccan sovereignty in 2020, and last year's Resolution 2797 treated the autonomy plan as the basis for talks.
The Polisario Front reacted with alarm. Its UN representative, Sidi Mohamed Omar, said Morocco and its allies bore full responsibility for undermining the mission, and that the Sahrawi people remained committed to self-determination and independence and would defend their rights by all legitimate means. Before the vote the movement had threatened to quit the UN-led process if the US draft passed without major changes.
Algeria, which hosts the Polisario and is its main backer, said on Saturday it regretted the Council's failure to renew the mandate.
The mission in numbers
| Created | April 1991 |
| Original task | Monitor ceasefire, organise self-determination referendum |
| Referendum held | Never |
| Ceasefire collapsed | November 2020 |
| Last renewal | Resolution 2797, October 31, 2025 (11 for, 0 against, 3 abstentions) |
| Mandate expired | Midnight, October 31, 2026 |
| Winding down from | November 1, 2026 |
What happens next
The closure is not necessarily final. Any of the 15 Council members can table a fresh draft, and diplomats could still return with a compromise text that would keep a smaller UN presence on the ground before the liquidation is complete. Until then, the political track rests with de Mistura, who has tried for five years to bring Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania back to the same table.
On the ground, the next concrete step is the departure of the observers from their team sites along the berm, as the reduced liquidation team ships out national equipment.
Questions people are asking
What was MINURSO?
MINURSO was the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, set up in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front and to organise a vote on the territory's future. The referendum never took place.
Why did the UN mission in Western Sahara end?
Its mandate ran out at midnight on October 31, 2026, because the Security Council could not agree on a renewal: Russia vetoed a US draft and a Russian draft did not get enough votes.
