”L’ONU presse pour un compromis dans les six prochains mois” – Le Monde (28th April 2018)

Article by Marie Bourreau on the MINURSO’s work in 2018
“Sahara occidental : l’ONU presse pour un compromis dans les six prochains mois” – 28.04.2018

Link to the article : http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2018/04/28/sahara-occidental-l-onu-presse-pour-un-compromis-dans-les-six-prochains-mois_5292029_3212.html#QTRFPXWJRACqJ1HD.9

MINURSO has been renewed for only six months in order to put maximum pressure on Morocco and the Polisario Front

Twenty-seven years after its creation, the UN mission in Western Sahara is the subject of a heated renewal process every year between Morocco’s allies, foremost among them France and the United States, and those of the Polisario Front.

A former Spanish colony, the territory of Western Sahara is the subject of a dispute between the independence movement Polisario Front – supported by Algeria – and Morocco, which has controlled 80% of Sahrawi territory since 1975. The Polisario Front is calling for a referendum on self-determination, as stipulated by the United Nations, while Rabat, considering the area to be an integral part of its territory, is proposing autonomous status. A ceasefire and a buffer zone have been in place since 1991.

Six-month deadline

After several weeks of negotiations and a three-day postponement of the vote, the parties finally agreed on Friday 27 April on a text that puts maximum pressure on the resumption of direct negotiations and leads to a ‘fair and lasting compromise’ for Western Sahara.

Russia, China and Ethiopia, and to a lesser extent Sweden, have nevertheless spoken out against a text they consider too favourable to Morocco, without however opposing the renewal of MINURSO (United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), whose “stabilizing function” they recognized.

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