The UN seeks to turn the page on the Western Sahara issue
In the United Nations Security Council, the debate on Moroccan autonomy in Western Sahara through the plan proposed in 2007 by King Mohammed VI of Morocco is nearing its conclusion.
After more than 50 years of back and forth over who should be the governing authority in the southern region of Morocco, the United Nations (UN) has decided to seek a definitive solution to the conflict.
Based on the support of more than 130 countries around the world for Morocco's Autonomy Plan, which is considered the most ‘credible, serious and realistic’, the UN is preparing to reach a final agreement in October.
However, Russia's arrival as president of the Council could pose a new obstacle that could once again derail negotiations due to its good relationship with Algeria and American interests in the region.
Keeping the conflict alive is a political, economic and strategic mistake. The debate on the autonomy of the Sahara only serves to fuel instability in the Sahel region, also known as ‘Europe's backyard’ – which implies the importance of the region in terms of international security – and the loss or delay of economic development and international and inter-African cooperation.
The support of Paris, London, Washington, Madrid and Berlin is a consequence of this. The world's major powers are aware of the potential of the African continent and therefore see Rabat as the figure that can channel all the development and trade agreements that favour Africa towards the European Union and the United States.
Let us remember that, within 20 years, 1 in 2 people under the age of 21 will be African, and that is a power of growth that the whole world must know how to harness.
Although the conflict is close to being resolved, actors such as Russia, the Polisario Front and Algeria, which in some scenarios could be considered a single ‘force’, do not seem to be willing to take part in the dialogue.
Algeria, the main actor in the case alongside Morocco, is mentioned as an observer, since for the United Nations it is the Polisario Front that must take part in the talks and dialogue tables.
Polisario and the MSP
Polisario is not the only representative of the Sahrawi people. A delegation from the Sahrawi Movement for Peace (MSP) is in New York to participate, for the first time, in the sessions of the UN Fourth Committee on Decolonization.
The delegation, composed of the MSP's First Secretary, Hach Ahmed, and the head of International Relations, Mohamed Cherif, will each speak at the Committee's meetings, where they will defend what is gaining ground in public opinion as the "third way," a new approach that advocates for a cessation of hostilities and the search for a political solution with no winners or losers, and with international guarantees.
As part of its visit to the United States, the MSP delegation was received in Washington last week by a large number of congressmen, former State Department officials, and experts on the issues.
MINURSO
At the same time, the creation of MINURSO (United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), with Staffan de Mistura as its head, has been trying for years to find a possible solution, but the mission's efforts have not yielded the expected results.
Since its foundation, MINURSO has had two objectives: to conduct a population census in order to establish a referendum and to bring about a ceasefire between the Polisario Front and Morocco.
De Mistura suggested a partition of the territory, but this was quickly rejected. For this reason, in the days leading up to the Assemblies, he urged all parties to resume efforts to consider Morocco's proposal as the definitive solution to the conflict.
In this context, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has spoken out, lamenting ‘the persistence of circumstances on the ground that continue to hinder any progress towards a political solution to the conflict,’ referring to the skirmishes and attacks by members of the Polisario militia on the Moroccan Armed Forces.