Moroccan Sahara: UN General Assembly reaffirms Exclusivity of UN Political Process

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution reaffirming its support for the political process conducted under the exclusive auspices of the UN Security Council for the settlement of the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara.  Thus, the General Assembly confirmed the resolution adopted by the 4th Committee last October.  The resolution adopted on Wednesday calls on all parties to cooperate fully with the UN Secretary-General to reach a political solution to this regional dispute on the basis of the resolutions adopted by the Security Council since 2007. It thus supports the political process based on the Security Council resolutions adopted since 2007, with a view to reaching a “just, lasting and mutually acceptable political” solution to the question of the Moroccan Sahara.  The document commends the efforts made in this respect, and calls on all parties to cooperate fully with the Secretary-General, and with one another, in order to reach a “mutually acceptable political solution”. This resolution, like the previous ones and those adopted by the Security Council over the past two decades, does not mention at any time the referendum, which has been dismissed by the UN Secretary-General as well as by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council.  The UN General Assembly also welcomes in this resolution the fact that the parties have committed to continue to demonstrate political will and to work in an atmosphere conducive to dialogue, based on the efforts made and the new developments that have occurred since 2006, thus ensuring the implementation of the Security Council resolutions since 2007.  It should be noted that the only new development in the political process since 2006 is the presentation by Morocco on 11 April 2007 of the autonomy initiative.  In this regard, the text supports the resolutions of the Security Council since 2007, which have enshrined the preeminence of the autonomy initiative presented by Morocco, welcomed by the Executive Body and the entire international community as a serious and credible initiative for the definitive settlement of this regional dispute within the framework of the Kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  The resolution also supports the recommendations of resolutions 2440, 2468, 2494, 2548, 2602, 2654 and 2703, all enshrined in resolution 2756 adopted at the end of October 2024, which determine the parameters of the solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, namely a political, realistic, pragmatic, lasting solution based on compromise. Resolutions 2440, 2468, 2494, 2548, 2602, 2654, 2703 and 2756 established the round table process and defined, once and for all, its four participants, namely Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the “polisario”. Indeed, these resolutions cite Algeria, in the same way as Morocco, five times, thus reaffirming Algeria’s role as the main party to this regional dispute.  These Security Council resolutions also welcome the measures and initiatives taken by Morocco for the promotion and protection of human rights in its southern provinces, and the role played by the Commissions of the National Human Rights Council in Laayoune and Dakhla, as well as Morocco’s interaction with the mechanisms of the United Nations Human Rights Council.  They also reiterate the request of the UN executive body for the registration and census of the populations of the Tindouf camps, and demand the deployment of the necessary efforts to this end.  This resolution of the General Assembly does not refer at all to a so-called imaginary war that Algeria and its puppet the “polisario” claim exists in the Moroccan Sahara. Thus, after the Security Council, the UN General Assembly exposes, in turn, the lies and fabrications of Algeria and the “polisario” about the situation in the Moroccan Sahara marked by tranquility, stability and all-out development.