UNITED NATIONS — The UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, has begun winding down, and its liquidation period started on Sunday, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement delivered by his spokesperson. The departure of the mission “does not abrogate” the people's “inalienable right to self-determination”, the statement said, and the UN called on all parties “to respect and promote the rights of the people of Western Sahara.”

Source: UN News, Nov 1, 2026

The formal closure notice is the development Awaaz Punjab flagged as still missing earlier on Sunday, when it reported that MINURSO's mandate had expired at midnight on Saturday with no renewal and no published withdrawal schedule. The mandate lapsed after the Security Council failed on Friday to agree on the mission's future: a draft resolution from the United States was vetoed by Russia, while a rival Russian text, proposing a one-year extension to 31 October 2027, failed to win the nine votes needed for adoption, UN News reported.

35 yearsMINURSO's presence in Western Sahara, 1991–2026
20Mission personnel who lost their lives in service
About 200Civilian staff, military observers and staff officers from over 35 countries at the mandate's end
9Team sites, plus a liaison office in Tindouf

Sunday marks the start of a liquidation period. A smaller team reporting to the UN Department of Operational Support will oversee the return of troop-contributing countries' assets to their home nations and the disposal of UN equipment, and Mr. Guterres called for the full cooperation of the parties so the process can be completed in an orderly way as soon as possible. A UN budget document had already provided for an eight-member international liquidation team from November 1 to December 31, 2026, Walaw reported, citing the document.

Source: Walaw Press, Nov 1, 2026

When its mandate ended, the mission was headquartered in Laayoune, with nine team sites — four west of the berm and five east of it — and a liaison office in Tindouf, and it had a dedicated mine action capability, UN News said. Mr. Guterres recognised the “central role” MINURSO has played since 1991 in monitoring the ceasefire and creating conditions for a political solution, expressed his “deepest gratitude” to its personnel, including Special Representative Alexander Ivanko, who led the mission through a “particularly challenging period” after hostilities resumed in 2020, and paid tribute to the 20 MINURSO personnel who lost their lives during the mission's 35 years in the territory.

Although MINURSO's operations have now ended, the UN will keep working towards a peaceful resolution through the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, and “stands ready to continue supporting efforts to advance dialogue and pursue a peaceful resolution of the conflict.” Mr. Guterres said he remains concerned about the security situation throughout the territory and the risk of hostilities escalating, and urged all concerned “to exercise maximum restraint and to refrain from actions that could further increase tensions or undermine regional stability.”

MINURSO was established under Security Council resolution 690 (1991), in line with UN–Organization of African Unity settlement proposals accepted in 1988 by Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO, which provided for a referendum in which the people of Western Sahara would choose between independence and integration with Morocco; the referendum never took place, and in 2007 Morocco put forward an Autonomy Proposal envisaging the territory as self-governing under Moroccan sovereignty. Explaining Friday's split, the US delegate said his country's draft would have supported the principle of self-determination and “moved the 50-year conflict forward”, while the Russian delegate said the US text would have imposed one-sided solutions, describing his veto as “a life-saving veto, so to speak”, UN News reported.