MINURSO began winding down on 1 November after its mandate expired, as Security Council members failed to agree on its future and the dispute remained unresolved.
The referendum never took place
Established in 1991 after Morocco and the Polisario Front accepted a UN settlement plan, MINURSO was meant to monitor a ceasefire and help prepare a vote. Sahrawis would choose between independence and integration with Morocco. Spain ended its colonial presence in the territory in 1976; Morocco claims it and administers most of it, while the Polisario seeks an independent state. The United Nations still lists Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
The vote did not happen because Morocco and the Polisario could not agree on who could take part. MINURSO continued to monitor and report on security and work to reduce tensions. The ceasefire broke down in 2020, and low-level hostilities have continued. When operations ended, the mission had about 200 civilian and military personnel, nine team sites and a liaison office in Tindouf, Algeria.
Members disagreed on the mission’s future
In 2025, the Security Council renewed MINURSO for one year and backed negotiations based on Morocco’s autonomy proposal, while saying a settlement should provide for Sahrawi self-determination. The proposal would place the territory under Moroccan sovereignty with local self-government. The Council asked the UN secretary-general to review the mission. By October 2026, his review described continuing political divisions and practical obstacles. Talks involving Morocco, the Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania had resumed but had not narrowed their differences.
The United States proposed keeping a UN presence for another year but changing the mission. Its draft would drop “Referendum” from the name, reduce the military component and put Morocco’s autonomy proposal at the center of negotiations. The United States said the old mission had failed to achieve its original purpose. Russia argued the draft imposed a one-sided solution and vetoed it. The draft had 11 votes in favor and three abstentions.
Russia then proposed a one-year extension of MINURSO. The draft received only three votes in favor; the United States voted against it and 11 members abstained. It failed to reach the nine votes required for adoption. The Council could not agree whether to reshape the mission or renew its existing mandate.
What the wind-down means
Morocco welcomed the non-renewal, which may shift attention toward its autonomy offer. The Polisario and many Sahrawis are concerned that a vote on independence could move further out of reach. Algeria criticized what it called the US draft’s bias toward Morocco. The UN secretary-general said MINURSO’s departure does not cancel the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.
The next step is an administrative withdrawal, not an immediate departure by every staff member. A smaller UN team is to manage the return of countries’ equipment and the disposal of UN assets. UN political work is expected to continue through the secretary-general’s personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura, but no replacement monitoring mission or referendum timetable was announced. Without MINURSO’s field presence, incidents may be harder for the UN to verify and tensions harder to defuse. Renewed fighting is a risk, not a certainty.