U.N. Withdraws 534 Personnel From Western Sahara After Security Council Veto

The United Nations concluded its 35 year presence in the Western Sahara on Sunday, November 1, 2026, after a deadlock at the Security Council forced the termination of the peacekeeping mandate. The withdrawal marks the end of the Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO, which has operated since 1991.

The force comprised 534 personnel with an annual budget exceeding $62 million for the 2026 to 2027 period. Egypt, Ghana, and Pakistan provided the largest number of troops. Twenty personnel lost their lives during the mission's duration. Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the U.N. secretary general, announced that the liquidation period began on November 1. A smaller team under the Department of Operational Support will manage the transport of assets to troop-contributing countries and the disposal of U.N. equipment.

The mission ended abruptly due to conflicting resolutions on the territory's status. On Friday, Russia vetoed a U.S. draft resolution that supported Morocco's sovereignty claims and planned to end the mission next year. A subsequent Russian proposal to extend the mission was also voted down. The failure of both texts resulted in the immediate expiration of the force's authority.

Morocco administers nearly all of the territory, which is roughly the size of Colorado and located on Africa's northwestern Atlantic coast. The kingdom calls the region its southern provinces. The Moroccan royal palace described the non-renewal of the mission as an instrument to internationalize the dispute. Rabat has secured support from Western capitals including Washington, Paris, and London for its position.

The Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the Indigenous Sahrawi people, rejected the outcome. The group, based in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, labeled the decision unacceptable. Algeria, the main backer of the Polisario, expressed profound regret through its foreign ministry and criticized the U.S. draft resolution for excessive bias. Russia and South Africa also support the independence movement.

The territory has been a site of conflict since Morocco annexed it in 1975. An armed conflict that followed lasted more than 15 years and claimed over 16,000 lives on both sides, according to the French Senate. A U.N. brokered cease-fire took effect in 1991, originally to facilitate a referendum on self-determination. The vote never occurred because the parties disagreed on the voter list. Morocco wanted to include residents in the territory it controls, while the Polisario insisted on using Spain's colonial census to ensure an independent outcome.

The region remains unstable following the Polisario's withdrawal from the cease-fire in 2020. The U.N. reported low intensity hostilities and tensions throughout the territory as of last month. The secretary general called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and respect the rights of the people of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara serves as a major flashpoint in the rivalry between Morocco and Algeria. The two nations severed diplomatic relations in 2021. Algiers views full Moroccan sovereignty as a diplomatic defeat and continues to arm and fund the Polisario Front. The removal of the peacekeeping force removes a buffer between the two regional powers.

The U.N. classifies the territory as a non self governing territory, a designation critics call the last colony in Africa. Morocco maintains a sand wall that separates the areas it controls from a narrow strip known as the free zone. The end of the mission leaves this disputed land without the international oversight it had for three and a half decades.