UN's Western Sahara peacekeeping mission ends after 35 years as Security Council deadlock leaves it without a mandate
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USAThe United Nations' long-running peacekeeping mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara ceased operations on Sunday, November 1, 2026, after 35 years, when the Security Council failed to renew its mandate amid a standoff between the United States and Russia over the territory's future.
November 1 marked the start of the mission's "liquidation period," U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement from Secretary-General António Guterres. A smaller team reporting to the U.N. Department of Operational Support will oversee the orderly return of troop-contributing countries' assets and the disposal of U.N. equipment, the statement said.
The mission, known as MINURSO — the U.N. Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara — was created in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front and to help organize a referendum on self-determination. That vote never took place: the two sides could not agree on who was eligible to vote, with Morocco seeking to include Sahrawis living in the territory it controls and the Polisario insisting on Spain's colonial census as the voter roll.
The end came in the Security Council on Friday, October 30. Russia vetoed a U.S.-backed draft resolution that would have supported Morocco's demand for sovereignty over Western Sahara and wound the mission down over the following year. A rival Russian resolution to extend the mission was then voted down. With neither text adopted, the mandate — last extended through October 31, 2026 — simply expired.
The reactions underlined the divide the mission had policed for decades. Morocco's royal palace welcomed the non-renewal, calling the mission an "instrument to internationalize the dispute." The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, called it "an unacceptable decision," and Algeria's foreign ministry said it profoundly regretted the non-renewal and criticized what it called the "excessive bias" of the U.S. draft.
Western Sahara, a vast desert territory roughly the size of Colorado on Africa's northwestern Atlantic coast, is rich in minerals and fisheries and is claimed by both Morocco, which administers nearly all of it except a narrow "free zone" east of a Moroccan-built sand wall, and the Polisario, which seeks independence for the Indigenous Sahrawi people from refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. The U.N. classifies it as a non-self-governing territory; critics of Moroccan control describe it as Africa's last colony.
The dispute turned into an armed conflict that lasted more than 15 years after Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, claiming more than 16,000 lives on both sides, according to the French Senate. The Polisario withdrew from the 1991 ceasefire in 2020, and the territory has since seen tensions and low-intensity hostilities. Morocco and Algeria severed diplomatic relations in 2021, and the mission's end risks further straining ties between the regional rivals.
Twenty MINURSO personnel lost their lives during the mission's 35 years. The force was authorized to have 534 personnel, with a 2026–2027 budget of more than $62 million; its top military contributors were Egypt, Ghana and Pakistan. At the end, it was headquartered in Laayoune, with nine team sites and a liaison office in Tindouf.
Guterres said the mission's departure "does not abrogate" the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination, and called on all parties to respect and promote those rights. He said he remains concerned about the security situation throughout the territory and the risk of escalating hostilities, urging all concerned to "exercise maximum restraint." The U.N. said it will keep working toward a peaceful resolution through the secretary-general's personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura.
Sources: The Associated Press, "UN's peacekeeping mission in disputed Western Sahara ends after 35 years" (Nov. 2, 2026); United Nations, statement by the spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres on MINURSO's liquidation (Nov. 1, 2026); UN News, "Western Sahara: UN 'stands ready' to keep supporting peace efforts as MINURSO mission ends" (Nov. 1, 2026); Reuters, "UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara ends after 35 years, UN chief says" (Nov. 1, 2026).
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