Dear Supporter, 

 

This October, the UN Security Council will vote on the MINURSO peacekeeping mandate in Western Sahara. For over 50 years, the Saharawi people have been waiting for their promised right to self-determination. This is a crucial moment to demand the UK government supports the Saharawi people, and increases its efforts to ensure a just and lasting resolution rooted in the Saharawi right to self-determination.

 

The Moroccan ‘autonomy’ plan

​

Recently several countries, particularly the United States and Israel, have promoted Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara to become an ‘autonomous’ province of Morocco. Far from enabling peace, this plan is simply a device for Morocco to underpin its military occupation. It is likely to lead to greater conflict. This is not surprising. The ‘autonomy’ plan would involve the Saharawi people accepting the authority of the Moroccan security forces that have persecuted them for 51 years. Human rights organisations report ongoing repression and abuses. Saharawis living under Moroccan rule face state violence for mentioning independence. 

 

No solution that is imposed can lead to lasting peace in the region. This plan is not a realistic proposal for peace

 

The UK needs to go further in its support

 

On 1 June 2025, the UK government issued an alarming joint communiqué that endorsed the Moroccan Autonomy Plan—where Western Sahara would be governed as an autonomous region under Moroccan sovereignty—as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution of the dispute.

The UK is now funding Moroccan agriculture in Western Sahara with British International Investment via BH Holdings through the investment fund manager Amethis. 

 

However, the UK is also clear that Western Sahara is not part of Morocco; and that any solution must be “mutually acceptable to the relevant parties” and support the principle of respect for self-determination. The UK has also had a ministerial meeting with the Polisario Front for the first time.

​

The UN Security Council should

​

Renew MINURSO at full strength and with its mission to remain focused on achieving self-determination for the Saharawi people: 

​

• Suggesting that MINURSO could be abolished or significantly altered before a negotiated solution is achieved is premature and risks undermining longer term peace in the region. 

​

• Where talks do lead to an agreement, there will still be a need to implement this and MINURSO will have a crucial role to play in this given the history of conflict and mistrust. 

​

• In the worst case outcome where talks fail, MINURSO’s continued presence will also be critical in order to prevent the conflict escalating further. 

​

Insist that contacts between the parties are conducted in an impartial and neutral manner,

​

• This is essential to create the conditions for genuine negotiations that could solve the conflict through allowing the Saharawi people self-determination – including the option of independence - rather than seeking to impose a pre-conceived outcome such as the Moroccan ‘autonomy’ plan.

​

Grant MINURSO the legal mandate to monitor, report on and intervene in matters of human rights in territories controlled by both the Kingdom of Morocco and the POLISARIO Front. 

​

·      This mandate must remain in place until a referendum has been held, and its findings reported directly to the Security Council.

 

UN Security Council member states, including the UK, need to go further in reaffirming their support for self-determination, to ensure the violent conflict in Western Sahara does not continue. 

 

50 Years in Exile

 

Without these changes, the Saharawi people face a future scenario where:

 

• Armed conflict continues—and more civilians are killed by Moroccan drones operating in the liberated territory;

• Further human rights abuses are committed by Moroccan authorities—following the systematic campaign of repression and violence outlined by UN officials;  

• Generations of exiled Saharawis continue to face inhospitable conditions—which are worsening with climate change;

 

 

Take Action!

 

You can take action to help the Saharawi people and push for vital change. 

 

As a constituent, your MP has a direct responsibility to represent your concerns to the government. 

 

Please write to your MP and ask them to write to Stephen Doughty MP, Minister of State, FCDO. You can attach the WSC 2026 UNSC Briefing which is on the website or include a link.

By writing to your MP, you can express the need for international support, and demand the following points. Use your own words if you can; make some of the points—no need to make them all. 

​

The Western Sahara Action Forum has drawn together a document with specific points we are calling on the United Nations Security Council to fulfil, please see the long version here, and the shorter version here, all current members of the UNSC are listed here. Please note the above and below has been drafter in specific for British viewers, if you are an international supporter please see the following document. 

​

The UN Security Council should Promote a political, democratic way forward, by

​

●      Renewing MINURSO at full strength and with its mission to remain focused on achieving self-determination for the Saharawi people.

●      Insist that contacts between the parties are conducted in an impartial and neutral manner.

●      Setting a date for a free and fair referendum to be carried out in Western Sahara.

Protect human rights, by

●      Granting MINURSO the legal mandate to monitor, report on and intervene in matters of human rights in territories controlled by the Kingdom of Morocco and the POLISARIO Front.