PREVIEW
Algeria was the only council member to reject the scheme, reflecting growing international support for Rabat over Western Sahara
The international community’s stance on Western Sahara’s future has been decisively altered by a United Nations Security Council vote on 31 October that endorsed Morocco’s plan for semi-autonomy for the territory.
The resolution, sponsored by the United States, got the support it needed after permanent Security Council members China and Russia abstained (Dispatches 14/4/25, Washington backs Rabat on Western Sahara, setting up clash with UN mission on territory’s sovereignty). The text makes no mention of a referendum on self-determination that includes independence as an option, the main demand of the Polisario Front, the political representative of the Sahrawi people, and the basis of the UN’s mandate until recently.
The text, which states that ‘genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty could constitute a most feasible solution,’ also extends the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara by another year.
The autonomy plan – first presented by Morocco to the UN in 2007 – would establish a local legislative, executive and judicial authority for Western Sahara elected by its residents, while Rabat would control defence, foreign affairs and religious affairs.
The only vote against the resolution came from Algeria, the main ally of the Polisario Front, which is currently serving a two-year term on the Security Council.
It will be seen as a diplomatic triumph in Rabat. King Mohammed VI said the resolution was ‘opening a new and victorious chapter in the process of enshrining the Moroccan character of the Sahara, which is intended to bring this issue to a definitive close’.
Morocco has steadily gained international support for its autonomy plan. The main breakthrough came with its deal with the US during President Donald Trump’s first administration that it made in exchange for recognising Israel (AC Vol 61 No 25, King reaps Saharan dividend).
Last week, Belgium became the latest country to endorse Morocco’s plan for semi-autonomous status for Western Sahara, joining a growing list led by the US, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as a growing number of African countries, including Ghana and Kenya (AC Vol 65 No 16, Emmanuel Macron’s Saharan mystery).
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