UN Ends Western Sahara Mission After 35 Years With No Referendum Held

The United Nations began closing its mission in Western Sahara on Sunday, 35 years after the Security Council created it to let the Sahrawi people decide their future. That vote was never held.

The spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said Sunday that the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is ceasing operations after the Council declined to renew its mandate. A liquidation period began the same day, with a smaller team moving out equipment owned by troop-contributing countries and disposing of UN property.

The mission existed, the statement says, to allow the people of Western Sahara “to realize their inalienable right to self-determination,” and its departure “does not abrogate these inalienable rights.” The UN still seeks a political solution “that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara,” it says. The word referendum appears in the statement only as part of the mission’s name.

The Secretary-General is concerned about “the risk of escalation of hostilities” and called for “maximum restraint,” the statement says. Hostilities resumed in 2020, and 20 mission personnel died during its 35 years in the territory.

How It Ended

The end came after the Council failed Friday to adopt either of two texts, as the Texian Partisan reported. Russia vetoed a US draft, and a Russian draft extending the mission to October 31, 2027, drew three votes in favor.

The settlement proposals behind the mission called for a referendum “in which the people of Western Sahara would choose between independence and integration with Morocco,” the UN’s record of the meeting says. That record adds: “the referendum has never taken place.”

What the Parties Say

Morocco’s Royal Cabinet said Friday that the mission’s personnel, vehicles, equipment and symbols should leave what it calls its southern provinces in the coming days, Hespress reported. It also said the dispute should come off the Council’s agenda and the UN-led political process should be suspended, and it reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire.

The UN’s statement points the other way on the process. It says the organization “stands ready to continue supporting efforts” to advance dialogue through the Secretary-General’s personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura.

The Polisario Front said in a Saturday communique that it welcomed the defeat of the US draft and thanked Russia. It held Morocco “fully responsible for any serious repercussions” for regional peace and called Western Sahara “the last colony in Africa.” Sidi Mohamed Omar, the Front’s UN representative, said the Sahrawi right to freedom and sovereignty is inalienable and non-negotiable, the Sahara Press Service reported.

A Right Without a Ballot

The UN says the right survives the mission. It has not said who would hold the vote, or when.

Texas needs no outside body for that decision. A statewide vote on independence takes a bill that passes the Texas House and Senate and that the governor signs or allows to become law. The Texas Independence Referendum Act, the model legislation of the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM), is that bill.

The Sahrawi vote depended on a Security Council in New York. A vote on Texas independence depends on the Texas Legislature, which convenes in January 2027.