Attachments
I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2703 (2023), by which the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 31 October 2024 and requested me to submit a report on the situation in Western Sahara before the end of the mandate period.
The report covers developments that occurred since the issuance of my previous report of 3 October 2023 (S/2023/729) and describes the situation on the ground, the status of the political process on Western Sahara, the implementation of resolution 2703 (2023) and the existing challenges to the Mission’s operations and steps taken to address them.
II. Recent developments
2. The situation in Western Sahara continued to be characterised by tensions and low-intensity hostilities between Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguía el-Hamra y Rio de Oro (Frente POLISARIO). Progress in the political process remained challenging despite the ongoing efforts of my Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura.
A. Main developments
3. On 30 October 2023, in a statement welcoming the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2703 (2023), the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates affirmed the Country’s commitment to “supporting the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy aimed at relaunching the round-table process, with a view to reaching a political solution, based on the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative and in strict respect of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Kingdom”.
4. In a statement on the same day, Frente POLISARIO reiterated its commitment to “the achievement of a peaceful, just and lasting solution to the decolonization of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, based on the free and democratic exercise by the Sahrawi people of their inalienable, non-negotiable and imprescriptible right to self-determination and independence”.
5. On 6 November, King Mohammed VI of Morocco delivered a speech on the occasion of the forty-eighth anniversary of the Green March. In the speech, he shared his vision for the Atlantic coastline becoming a gateway for trade and economic integration with Africa and the Americas by facilitating access of the countries in the Sahel region to the Atlantic.
6. On 10 May, celebrations took place in the refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, to commemorate the fifty-first anniversary of the founding of Frente POLISARIO. In a speech on 20 May to mark the anniversary, Brahim Ghali, Secretary-General of Frente POLISARIO, referred to “the consequences of the expansionism and aggression” and called on the Frente POLISARIO armed forces to “escalate and advance the armed struggle”.
7. On 9 July, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, sent a letter to King Mohammed VI that was made public on 30 July, indicating that France considers that “autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the framework within which the issue [of Western Sahara] must be resolved … [and that] for France, the [Moroccan autonomy proposal] now constitutes the only basis for achieving a just, lasting and negotiated political solution in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council”.
8. On 25 July, the Foreign Ministry of Algeria issued a communiqué indicating that it had been informed of the decision of France and expressing its “profound disapproval” of the “unexpected, inopportune and counterproductive” decision. On 30 July, the Foreign Ministry of Algeria issued another communiqué withdrawing its ambassador to France “with immediate effect” following the decision of France.
9. On 26 July, the Frente POLISARIO issued a statement condemning the French decision in the “strongest possible terms” and indicating that the letter put France “in the same place as the occupier” and “unwelcome”, “including its participation in MINURSO”.
10. On 14 August, Chad inaugurated a “consulate general” in Dakhla. On 15 August, Frente POLISARIO sent a letter to me condemning the inauguration and referring to it as “a serious breach of the international legal status of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory”.
11. During the reporting period, Morocco continued to intensify the development of infrastructure, renewable energy projects and commercial activities west of the berm. On 29 July, a major new bridge, the Sakia El Hamra wadi bridge, was inaugurated to mark the twenty-fourth anniversary of King Mohammed VI’s ascension to the throne. In a letter to me dated 16 October 2023, Frente POLISARIO continued to reaffirm that it would not accept “the fait accompli” in the Territory.