UN Western Sahara peace process at critical juncture

By failing to follow through on its commitment to end the status quo and demand that Morocco terminate its illegal occupation of Western Sahara, the Security Council has missed another opportunity to prevent the UN peace process from collapsing. In the face of the UN Secretariat and the Security Council’s repeated failure to prevent Morocco from dictating the terms of the peace process and the UN’s role in Western Sahara, the Frente POLISARIO is left with no option but to reconsider its engagement in the peace process as a whole.

Despite Morocco’s intransigence, obstructionism and blackmail, the Frente POLISARIO has consistently exercised restraint. Over the years, we have made tremendous concessions so the UN peace process could advance and succeed. But the Security Council’s failure to act robustly to end Morocco’s blatant attempts to transform MINURSO into a tool to normalise its illegal occupation of parts of our national Territory has undermined the integrity and credibility of the UN peace process in the eyes of our people.