US draft drops referendum and scales back MINURSO’s military role
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Yabiladi
The final version of the US draft resolution provides for extending MINURSO’s mandate until 31 October 2027 and removing its role in organising a referendum. It also calls for a strategic review within six months, which could lead to a gradual reduction in the military component, and provides for registration of refugees in the Tindouf camps, according to Yabiladi.
The United States unveiled the final draft of a resolution on the Sahara on 26 October, ruling out a MINURSO-organised referendum and proposing a gradual reduction in its military component. The text proposes extending the mission’s mandate until 31 October 2027 and considering its reclassification as a UN political mission for the Sahara, according to Yabiladi, which says it obtained a copy of the document.
The draft asks the UN Secretary-General to conduct a strategic review of MINURSO within six months, in consultation with the parties, and to reconfigure its tasks. It also provides for the registration of refugees in the Tindouf camps by the UNHCR and encourages their voluntary return “in safety and dignity”, according to the text cited by Yabiladi.
The version expected to be adopted on 30 October encourages consultations with representatives of the Sahara, the camps and the diaspora, beyond the Polisario alone. It also expresses the Security Council’s support for the growing number of states backing Morocco’s autonomy proposal under Moroccan sovereignty in the Sahara, and calls for direct negotiations led by the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura.
The draft follows the US proposal to reduce MINURSO’s military strength, presented on 22 October, and the subsequent announcement on 23 October of plans to change MINURSO’s mandate in the Sahara. The Security Council is due to renew the mission’s mandate on 31 October, a deadline already announced on 21 October.
