MINURSO has entered the dismantling phase. At the UN’s daily press briefing on Monday, November 2, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for António Guterres, set out how the mission would be shut down.
“As you saw, Sunday, November 1 marked the beginning of the liquidation period for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, otherwise known as MINURSO, which ceased operations following the non-renewal of its mandate by Security Council members,” he recalled.
The task will fall to a small team attached to the UN Department of Operational Support, with assistance from headquarters. It will oversee “the orderly and environmentally responsible closure and handover of the 13 sites previously operated by MINURSO,” the spokesperson explained. The winding-down process will proceed “in phases,” in accordance with the organization’s standard procedures.
The plan amounts to a checklist. Dujarric outlined the main tasks: “the repatriation of approximately 160 military observers, the withdrawal of 180 civilian and affiliated personnel, the closure and handover of 13 mission facilities and team sites, the disposal or transfer of United Nations assets and equipment, the removal of communications and logistical support systems, the management of mission archives and records, and the termination of contractual arrangements in the field.”
All of this, he added, would be carried out “in accordance with the rules and regulations the UN applies when closing missions,” with continued administrative, financial and security oversight to ensure the safety of personnel.
The language speaks volumes. There is no longer any talk of monitoring the ceasefire, reporting to the Security Council or holding a referendum. Instead, the discussion is about repatriation, handing over premises, archiving records and terminating contracts. Africa’s longest-standing peacekeeping mission is closing down much like a business being liquidated: one inventory item at a time.
The timetable is in line with the one Rabat had already set. As early as Saturday, October 31, during a special program on 2M, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita announced that the mission’s presence in the southern provinces—its personnel, vehicles, equipment and symbols—would have to end “in the coming days.”
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He pledged an “exemplary operation, not an expulsion,” to be conducted through a technical process involving the Security Council and the UN Department of Peace Operations. He also stressed that the mission’s departure “does not mean the end of the ceasefire,” which Morocco has undertaken to uphold since September 6, 1991.
For his part, the Secretary-General acknowledged the end of MINURSO on November 1 and called on the parties to cooperate fully to ensure that the withdrawal was completed “in an orderly manner” and “as soon as possible.”
Rabat and New York are now speaking the same language: an orderly, swift and incident-free departure. All that remains for MINURSO is to hand back the keys.
