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UN's top security body has approved a US-backed resolution that supports Morocco's claim regarding the contested territory, notwithstanding significant resistance from neighboring Algeria.

Divided Decision Strengthens Moroccan Position

While Friday's decision was divided, the resolution represents the most significant endorsement yet for Morocco's proposal to maintain sovereignty over the territory, which additionally has support from most EU members and a growing number of African nation allies.

Resolution Structure and Key Components

The resolution refers to Moroccan proposal as a foundation for talks. Similar to earlier resolutions, the text makes no mention of a referendum on independence that includes sovereignty as an choice, which constitutes the solution long favored by the pro-independence Polisario Front and its allies.

Real self-rule under Morocco's sovereignty could constitute a most practical solution.

Background Context

The territory is a phosphate-rich stretch of coastal arid land the size of a US state which was under Spanish rule until the mid-1970s. It is asserted by both the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front, which operates from refugee camps in south-western Algeria and claims to represent the Sahrawi people indigenous to the disputed territory.

Decision Results and Global Reactions

The United States, which proposed the resolution, led 11 countries in voting in support, while three nations – Russia, China and Pakistan – declined to vote. Algeria, Polisario's main benefactor, did not vote.

The US ambassador, the US ambassador to the United Nations, stated the decision had been "significant" and would "build on the momentum for a long, long overdue peace in Western Sahara".

The Algerian ambassador, the Algerian ambassador to the United Nations, commented that while the measure was an advancement on previous versions, it "still has a number of deficiencies".

Peacekeeping Operation and Future Review

The resolution also renews the United Nations security mission in the territory for another twelve months, as has been implemented for over thirty years. Prior extensions, though, have not contained a mention to Moroccan and its supporters' favored outcome.

The measure calls on all parties participating to "take this unprecedented opportunity for a lasting peace." Depending on developments, it requests the secretary general to assess the peacekeeping mission's authority within half a year.

Regional Impact and Current Conditions

The shift could unsettle a protracted process that for decades has escaped settlement, desdespite a United Nations security operation that was designed to be short-term. Demonstrations have ensued in Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria this recent period, where residents have pledged not to give up their struggle for self-determination.

Morocco controls nearly all of Western Sahara, excluding a narrow area called the "liberated area" that lies to the east of a Moroccan-built barrier.

Past Background and Current Events

A 1991-era truce was intended to pave the way for a vote on self-determination, but fighting over participation criteria prevented it from occurring.

Over the years, Morocco has developed the contested territory, constructing a maritime facility and a long road. Government subsidies keep food and energy costs affordable, and the resident count has grown significantly as Moroccans establish homes in cities such as Dakhla and Laayoune.

Polisario withdrew from the truce in recent years after confrontations near a route Morocco was constructing to Mauritania.

The movement has since regularly reported military operations, while Morocco has mostly denied open conflict. The United Nations calls it "low-level tensions".

International Relations and Future Prospects

Reacting to the draft resolution, the movement stated that it would not join any initiative intending "to validate Moroccan unauthorized military occupation," adding peace "can never be achieved by supporting expansionism".

The situation constitutes the central issue in north African international relations. The Moroccan government views endorsement of its autonomy plan as a benchmark for how it gauges its international partners.

Recently, the UN representative proposed dividing the territory, a proposal no party agreed to. He encouraged Morocco to specify what self-rule would involve and warned that a lack of progress might raise questions about the United Nations' function and "if there remains opportunity and willingness for us to still be useful."

The initiative to review the United Nations Mission comes as the US reduces financial support for UN programmes and organizations, including security operations.