UN Backs Resolution Favoring Moroccan Position on Western Sahara

UN's top security body has adopted a US-backed measure that endorses Moroccan claim regarding the contested territory, despite significant opposition from neighboring Algeria.

Split Decision Strengthens Moroccan Stance

While the recent vote was split, the resolution represents the most significant support to date for Morocco's plan to retain control over the region, which also enjoys backing from the majority of European Union members and a growing number of African nation partners.

Measure Framework and Key Elements

The resolution describes Moroccan plan as a foundation for negotiation. Similar to earlier resolutions, the text doesn't include a referendum on independence that includes independence as an option, which represents the approach traditionally favored by the independence-seeking Polisario Front and its supporters.

Genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty could represent a very feasible resolution.

Historical Context

Western Sahara is a phosphate-rich stretch of coastline desert the size of a US state which was under Spanish control until the mid-1970s. It is asserted by both Morocco and the Polisario Front, which functions from temporary settlements in south-western neighboring Algeria and asserts to speak for the Sahrawi people indigenous to the disputed territory.

Decision Results and International Responses

The US, which proposed the measure, led 11 countries in deciding in favor, while three nations – Russia, China and Pakistan – abstained. Algeria, Polisario's main supporter, did not participate.

The US ambassador, the American representative to the UN, said the decision had been "historic" and would "build on the progress for a long, long overdue resolution in Western Sahara".

Amar Bendjama, the Algeria's ambassador to the UN, said that while the measure was an advancement on previous versions, it "contains a series of shortcomings".

Security Operation and Future Assessment

The measure also renews the UN peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara for an additional twelve months, as has been implemented for over three decades. Prior extensions, though, have not included a mention to Morocco and its supporters' preferred resolution.

The measure urges all sides participating to "take this unprecedented chance for a lasting resolution." Based on developments, it requests the secretary general to assess the peacekeeping mission's authority within half a year.

Area Consequences and Current Situation

The change could unsettle a protracted process that for decades has escaped resolution, notwithstanding a United Nations peacekeeping operation that was intended to be short-term. Demonstrations have followed in Sahrawi settlements in Algeria this recent period, where people have pledged not to abandon their struggle for independence.

Morocco administers almost all of Western Sahara, excluding a thin strip called the "liberated area" that lies to the east of a Moroccan-built barrier.

Past Background and Recent Events

A 1991-era truce was meant to pave the way for a vote on self-determination, but fighting over voter eligibility blocked it from occurring.

Through time, Morocco has developed the contested territory, building a maritime facility and a 656-mile highway. State subsidies keep food and energy costs affordable, and the resident count has ballooned as Moroccans establish homes in cities such as Dakhla and Laayoune.

Polisario withdrew from the ceasefire in recent years after confrontations near a road the government was paving to Mauritania.

The movement has subsequently frequently reported security activity, while the government has mostly denied open conflict. The United Nations calls it "limited tensions".

International Diplomacy and Coming Possibilities

Reacting to the draft resolution, the movement said that it would not join any process aiming "to 'legitimise' Morocco's unauthorized military occupation," saying peace "cannot happen by supporting expansionism".

The situation constitutes the driving force in north African diplomacy. Morocco views support for its autonomy plan as a standard for how it assesses its allies.

Last October, the UN envoy suggested partitioning Western Sahara, a proposal no party agreed to. He encouraged Morocco to specify what self-rule would entail and cautioned that a absence of development might raise questions about the UN's function and "whether there is space and readiness for us to still be useful."

The push to review the United Nations Mission comes as the US slashes funding for UN programmes and organizations, covering peacekeeping.