:TIMELINE [links:https://press.un.org/en/2026/sc16498]
MINURSO: 35 years of renewals, then a double veto
1988-08-30 | Morocco and the Polisario Front accept UN settlement proposals, including a self-determination referendum for the Sahrawi people.
1991-04-29 | Security Council resolution 690 creates MINURSO to monitor the ceasefire and organise the referendum. Ceasefire takes effect on 6 September.
1991-01-01 | MINURSO deploys to Laayoune with nine team sites and a liaison office in Tindouf, Algeria. The referendum is never held: both parties disagree on who qualifies to vote.
2020-11-01 | Polisario Front declares the 1991 ceasefire over after Moroccan forces enter a buffer zone near Guerguerat. Low-level skirmishes resume.
2026-10-30 | Security Council votes on two draft resolutions. US resolution (S/2026/868) wins 11 votes but Russia vetoes it. Russia's counter-resolution (S/2026/870) gets only 3 votes. Neither passes. MINURSO mandate expires.
2026-10-31 | MINURSO mandate lapses at midnight. The mission has been renewed 47 times since 1991 without achieving its referendum mandate.
2026-11-01 | UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announces the start of the liquidation period. A smaller team will oversee asset disposal and the transportation of equipment to troop-contributing countries.

:INFO [links:https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/11/1168717]
What MINURSO was and what its absence means
MINURSO was the sole international military monitoring mechanism in Western Sahara. Its 200 civilian staff, military observers, and officers from more than 35 countries patrolled the berm -- a 2,700 km sand wall built by Morocco separating Moroccan-controlled territory from Polisario-held lands -- and verified incidents along the ceasefire line.
• What is known: The ceasefire formally remains in place; Morocco has pledged to maintain it; the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy Staffan de Mistura retains a negotiating mandate.
• What is not known: Who, if anyone, will now monitor ceasefire violations; whether Polisario will respect a ceasefire with no outside oversight; whether de Mistura's talks -- which saw three rounds in early 2026 -- can survive the collapse of the Security Council framework.
• Morocco welcomed the mission's end, calling on all UN personnel and equipment to leave the territory and asking for the issue to be removed from the Security Council agenda permanently.
• 

:TABLE [title:How the two Security Council votes split, links:https://press.un.org/en/2026/sc16498]
Draft | Sponsor | Result | For | Against | Abstain
S/2026/868 | United States | Vetoed | 11 | 1 (Russia) | 3
S/2026/870 | Russia | Rejected | 3 | 1 (United States) | 11

:STATS [links:https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/11/1168717]
[icon:CLOCK] Years MINURSO operated | 35
[icon:CHART] Times mandate renewed by Security Council | 47
[icon:USERS] Authorized personnel strength | 534
[icon:DOLLAR] Annual budget (2026-2027) | over $62 million
[icon:USERS] MINURSO personnel killed in service | 20
[icon:TRENDING_DOWN] Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf camps (est.) | 100,000+

:CHECKLIST [links:https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/11/1168717]
What happens next
[ ] - MINURSO liquidation team remains in field to transport equipment and  personnel; timeline not specified by UN.
[ ] - Staffan de Mistura continues as Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General;  his talks with Morocco, Polisario, Algeria, and Mauritania are unaffected  in mandate but lack Security Council leverage.
[ ] - Western Sahara remains on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories;  the Sahrawi people retain the right to self-determination in UN doctrine.
[ ] - Morocco is expected to consolidate administrative and economic control over  the territory it claims, without UN monitoring or reporting obligations.
[ ] - A future Security Council resolution could theoretically reconstitute a  mission, but both the US and Russia would need to agree on terms.

:QUOTE [links:https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/11/1168717, quotetype:plain, subtitle:UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres]
The departure of MINURSO does not abrogate the inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination.

:NOTE
Sources. France24 first published in-window 20:37 UTC 1 Nov 2026. UN Secretary-General spokesperson statement: news.un.org (1 Nov 2026). Security Council vote record (S/2026/868, S/2026/870): press.un.org/en/2026/sc16498. AP wire confirmed by US News, Yahoo News, WRAL, KSAT, WFTV (1 Nov 2026). Al Jazeera analysis (1 Nov 2026). Morocco World News (1 Nov 2026). New Arab (1 Nov 2026). Cover: NASA astronaut photograph ISS041-E-3577, taken September 2014 over Western Sahara, public domain (NASA Johns

:LINK
https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/11/1168717
UN News: UN stands ready to support peace efforts as MINURSO mission ends

:LINK
https://press.un.org/en/2026/sc16498
UN Security Council press release: vote record on S/2026/868 and S/2026/870

:LINK
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/1/why-is-morocco-celebrating-the-defeat-of-a-un-resolution-on-western-sahara
Al Jazeera: Why Morocco is celebrating the defeat of the UN resolution