Western Sahara
Historical Chronology

In resolution 1871 the Council renewed MINURSO's mandate until 30 April 2010, welcomed the parties agreement to the Personal Envoy's proposal to hold small, informal preparatory meetings, and called on the parties to continue negotiations without preconditions and in good faith and show political will to enter into a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations.

In his report to the Council the Secretary-General said that careful preparation was needed before holding a fifth negotiation round and that the parties had agreed with his Personal Envoy to hold one or more small, informal preparatory meetings. He recommended that the Council call on the parties to continue negotiations in good faith, without any preconditions and show political will to enter into substantive discussions. He also repeated his call to the parties to engage in dialogue with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced that two UN-led missions would visit the Tindouf camps to assess overall conditions for the refugees following concerns over malnutrition resulting from a 2008 survey.  

January/February 2009

After taking up his post, Ross held talks in New York and then in February headed to the region for consultations with Morocco, Algeria and the Polisario. He visited Madrid and Paris and met the new US administration in Washington. While still in listening mode, he made clear that he would try a new approach and not continue in the same track as the previous talks. He would not call a fifth negotiation round (Van Walsum held four) until the ground had been prepared sufficiently to make some progress possible. In his meetings he apparently raised the possibility of expanding confidence building measures beyond the current family visits between the Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf in Algeria and the Western Sahara Territory.

Human Rights Watch issued a report on the human rights situation in Western Sahara and in the Tindouf refugee camps. It criticised Morocco and the Polisario for human rights abuses, but was condemned by Rabat as being excessively critical of Morocco. The report recommended expansion of MINURSO’s mandate to include a human rights monitoring mechanism or establishment of another UN monitoring mechanism.

In resolution 1813 the Council renewed the MINURSO mandate until 30 April 2009 and endorsed the Secretary-General's recommendation that realism and a spirit of compromise by the parties are essential to maintain the momentum of the process of negotiations.

Peter van Walsum gave his last briefing to the Council as Personal Envoy. He suggested moving the discussions away from the two proposals on the table presented by the parties and instead going forward on the temporary assumption that there would be no referendum with independence as an option without recognising Moroccan sovereignty. He was apparently concerned that continuing in the same track would lead to a deadlock, and there would be no point in having another round of negotiations. His conclusions were controversial and threatened to divide the Council. They were not reflected in the Secretary-General’s 14 April report and were not taken up by the Council.

In his latest report on Western Sahara on 14 April (S/2008/251), the Secretary-General noted that “the momentum can only be attained by trying to find a way out of the current political impasse through realism and a spirit of compromise from both parties.”

18 March 2008

According to a communiqué issued by Peter van Walsum, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, with the agreement of the parties, the fourth round of talks between Morocco and the Polisario talks focused on implementation of Council resolutions 1754 and 1783. They also focused on administration, justice and resources issues. The parties agreed to explore establishing family visits between the refugee camps in Algeria and the Moroccan-controlled territory of Western Sahara by land—in addition to the current visits by air—and to continue the talks at a later date. Morocco seemed to relax to a small degree its previous insistence that the talks focus on the political process and not discuss the expansion of confidence-building measures. 

17-18 March 2008

Morocco and the Polisario held the fourth round of talks in Manhasset in search of a mutually acceptable solution to the situation in Western Sahara.  Representatives of the neighbouring countries, Algeria and Mauritania, were present at the opening and closing sessions and were consulted separately during the meeting.  Peter van Walsum, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, facilitated the discussions.  After the talks, the Moroccan delegation made a statement about its territorial integrity, and said that the choice was not between autonomy and independence but between autonomy and status quo. The Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Taieb Fassi Fihri, a member of the delegation that attended the Manhasset talks, stated at a press conference that Morocco was ready to engage in substantial discussions about the autonomy plan only. The delegation also attacked attempts by the Polisario to raise human rights issues.

March 2008

The 2007 Western Sahara Country Report on Human Rights Practices by the US Department of State also noted that political rights for residents in Western Sahara remained circumscribed.  It added that “international human rights groups and Sahrawi activists maintained that the Moroccan government subjected Sahrawis who were suspected of supporting either Western Saharan independence or the Polisario to various forms of surveillance, arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention, and in many cases, torture.”

February 2008

Peter Van Walsum, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, visited the region and held in-depth consultations with the parties. He met the Polisario Secretary-General Mohamed Abdelaziz and other members of the Polisario leadership on 9 February.  He also met senior Moroccan officials in Rabat.  Van Walsum said that he was in the region to listen to the views of both the parties and the neighbouring states, Algeria and Mauritania, on how to move into more substantial negotiations and provide for the self-determination for the people of Western Sahara. He also held discussions with officials in Algiers and Nouakchott. 

4 February 2008

The Council held consultations on Western Sahara following the Secretary-General’s latest report on the status and progress of the negotiations (S/2008/45), which noted that “although the parties … in a certain measure interacted with each other, they did not examine specific elements included in each other’s proposals.” The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy Peter van Walsum briefed the Council during the consultations and discussions seem to have focused on the issue of confidence-building measures. The Council then adopted a press statement welcoming the report, supporting the next round of talks and agreeing on the need to move the process into a more substantive phase of negotiations (SC/9241).

25 January 2008

The Secretary-General’s report on the third round of negotiations (which took place from 7 to 9 January) said that the parties remained far apart and that “there was hardly any exchange that could be characterized as negotiations.” 

9 January 2008

Peter Van Walsum, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, released a communiqué on the third round of talks between Morocco and the Polisario that took place on 8 and 9 January. It noted that the parties continued to have strong differences but had agreed on the need to move into a substantive phase. There was no progress on confidence-building measures (Morocco apparently continuing to hold to its position that such measures should not be discussed at this time), but there were preliminary discussions on thematic subjects, including administration, competencies and institutions.

January 2008

Human Rights Watch reported in its annual World Report that Morocco’s authorities continued to harass human rights defenders and Sahrawi activists in the Western Sahara. Repression of public protests, it says, was fiercer in Western Sahara than elsewhere in the kingdom.

14-20 December 2007

The Polisario held a “congress” (usually held every three to four years) in its outpost of Tifariti. In a statement carried by the Algerian official news agency, the Polisario said that if current negotiations fail, the Moroccan government would assume full consequences including possibly for resumption of hostilities.  

31 October 2007

The Council adopted resolution 1783 renewing MINURSO until 30 April 2008 and called on the parties to continue to show political will and engage in substantive negotiations without preconditions and in good faith.

The Secretary-General's report on Western Sahara noted that while Morocco and Frente Polisario had demonstrated a willingness to negotiate, their views on the status of Western Sahara were "mutually exclusive" and thus "prevented each party from seriously discussing the other party's proposal." The Secretary-General also recommended that MINURSO's mandate be extended for an additional six months (S/2007/619).

10-11 August 2007

The second round of negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario was held in Manhasset, New York, under the same format as the previous round. The atmosphere seemed to have been less cordial. The parties focused on ways to reinforce confidence-building measures such as contacts between Sahrawi refugees in the Algerian border area of Tindouf and their relatives in Western Sahara. These are now underway, supervised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, tried unsuccessfully to extend discussions to other confidence-building measures. The parties also discussed the implementation of resolution 1754 of 30 April 2007, which called for negotiations without preconditions in good faith with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that would provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

11 July 2007

After a briefing by Peter van Walsum, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, the Council welcomed the Secretary-General's report (S/2007/385) in a press statement (SC/9076).  It supported the agreement that negotiations would continue in August after a first round of talks in Manhasset on 18-19 June.

27 June 2007

The Secretary-General submitted a report on the status and progress of the first round of negotiations. He noted that the two parties remained far apart on the definition of self-determination, despite having accepted resolution 1754. The Secretary-General had originally made recommendations in his report, including that the Council call on all member states to urge "both parties to make every effort to maintain the momentum and to impress upon them that a final resolution of the conflict will require flexibility and sacrifice from both of them." He also made specific recommendations to Morocco and the Polisario. But because of concerns from both parties that this might negatively influence the next round, the report was reissued without this paragraph.

Morocco and the Polisario held talks in Manhasset, outside New York, the first direct meeting between the parties since 2000.  Both parties reiterated their positions.  The Polisario stated its readiness to consider the Moroccan autonomy plan, but apparently continued to insist on a referendum on self-determination, including the option of independence.  Morocco seemed ready to offer self-determination only based on autonomy.     

The Secretary-General issued a report (S/2007/202) on the situation in Western Sahara.

Morocco submitted its autonomy plan for Western Sahara entitled "Moroccan Initiative for Negotiating an Autonomy Statute for the Sahara Region" to the Secretary-General.  Polisario also presented to the Secretary-General a "Proposal for a Mutually Acceptable Political Solution that Provides for the Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara." 

March 2006

Morocco established a Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS, Conseil royal consultatif pour les affaires sahariennes) comprising all Moroccan political parties as well as Sahrawi leaders, but not Polisario.

6 November 2005

The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, announced the launching of a process of consultation with the parties on granting autonomy to Western Sahara.

11-17 October 2005

The Secretary-General's Personal Envoy to Western Sahara visited the region and met with the parties.

18 August 2005

404 Moroccan prisoners were released by Polisario.

29 July 2005

The Secretary-General appointed Peter van Walsum as his Personal Envoy.

11 June 2004

James Baker resigned from his position as Personal Envoy to Western Sahara.  Álvaro de Soto, Special Representative for Western Sahara at that time, took over the political process.

July 2003

James Baker returned with a revised version of his plan, including safeguards that won Algerian and Polisario support. Moroccan settlers were able to vote, but Morocco rejected the plan.

23 May 2003

James Baker proposed another plan (Baker Plan II) which provided for a referendum in four to five years time and offered the inhabitants a choice between independence, autonomy or complete integration with Morocco. The plan was accepted by Polisario, Algeria and the Security Council but was rejected by Morocco.

20 June 2001

James Baker presented a "Framework Agreement" (Baker's Plan I), in which the referendum would be replaced by a vote on limited autonomy. Morocco would control the territory while the Sahrawis would have had exclusive competence over local issues. The framework was accepted by Morocco but rejected by the Polisario.

September 1998

The process of identifying eligible voters was completed.

September 1997

The Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, James Baker, conducted a successful round of talks between the parties which led to the adoption of the Houston Accords.

May 1996

The identification process was suspended. The civilian police component of UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was withdrawn and the military component was reduced.

29 April 1991

Resolution 690 established UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) with the mandate to implement the settlement proposals during a transitional period in which the referendum would be organized. The plan also created an identification commission to determine voters.

30 August 1988

The two parties agreed on the UN "settlement proposals," which pushed for a ceasefire (effective in 1991) and the holding of a referendum to enable the people of Western Sahara to choose between independence and integration with Morocco.

1984

Morocco withdrew from the Organisation of Arab Unity (OAU) to protest against the presence of the Polisario at the OAU summit.

1982

The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was admitted to the Organisation of Arab Unity (OAU).

1979

Mauritania renounced all claims on Western Sahara. Morocco took over the Mauritanian sector of Western Sahara.

27 February 1976

Morocco annexed Western Sahara. The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was founded and announced an armed struggle to achieve the right of self-determination. Fighting broke out between the Polisario and the Moroccan and Mauritanian armies. The population fled to refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria.

26 February 1976

Spain withdrew from Western Sahara.

14 November 1975

Spain ceded Western Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania after the signature of the Madrid Accord.

6 November 1975

The "Green March" over the border between Western Sahara and Morocco moved around 350,000 Moroccans into the territory.

31 October 1975

Moroccan troops crossed the frontier and clashed with Polisario guerrillas.

16 October 1975

International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion was issued.

1973

Frente Polisario was formed and launched its first raids against Spanish colonisers.