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Join on Telegram The newly adopted Resolution 2756 further confirms Algeria’s growing isolation and failure to achieve its aggressive diplomatic objectives.
The Security Council voted on the new resolution on Thursday after hours of deliberations, which saw the UN body overwhelmingly reject Algeria’s attempt to shirk its responsibility on the Sahara dispute while undermining the ongoing political process.
The vote was remarkable as it highlighted Algeria’s frustration and lack of influence or support within the Council, with the Algerian regime failing to convince any member of the UN body to support the two hostile, Moroccan integrity-undermining amendments it sought to add to the resolution.
Notably, Algeria faced a setback from one of its strongest allies, Russia, which chose to abstain from the vote but rejected the proposed amendments.
Additionally, many countries, including France and the United States – both permanent members of the UN Security Council — rejected these amendments.
The two countries’ decision reflects their unwavering support for Morocco’s territorial integrity, with both having recognized the North African kingdom’s sovereignty over its southern provinces and backing the Moroccan Autonomy Plan as the most serious and credible path to a workable political solution in Western Sahara.
Commenting on the vote, Algerian analyst Oualid Kebir told Morocco World News that the UNSC’s decision has yet again highlighted Algeria’s isolation and Algerian diplomacy’s growing ineffectiveness.
This latest failure by Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, has put the Algerian regime and Algerian diplomacy in a shameful and embarrassing situation as it becomes clear that its separatist agenda has no viable future in Western Sahara.
“He even went so far when he complained about the penholder, US,” Kebir said, referencing the Algerian representative’s remarks following the vote.
“You have certainly noticed that Algeria decided fully to not participate in the vote on this resolution for a range of reasons, which I will now touch upon. First of all, because of the attitude of the penholder,” the Algerian representative to the UN said.
Algeria’s UN representative complained that views which “I unscrupulously noted down and documented and well-founded with agreed language within the Security Council, were not taken into account, let us say so candidly, they were deliberately ignored.”
For Kebir, Algeria’s inability to sway international opinion highlights a “notable setback for its regime.”
The 12 votes for the resolution and the overwhelming rejection of the proposed Algerian amendments reveal a “stark contrast” in the international community’s position, which increasingly favors Morocco.
“The situation exposes the vulnerabilities of Algeria’s regime in the face of geopolitical dynamics,” he concluded.
Key highlights of Resolution 2756
Like precedent resolutions, the new resolution called upon all parties to the dispute to cooperate more fully with each other, a demand that has long been ignored by Algeria’s regime – which prefers to refer to itself as merely an observer and not a main party in the Sahara dossier.
The UN Security Council repeatedly urged the Algerian regime to engage in the UN-led political process, including by building additional trust to strengthen their involvement in the process to achieve progress toward a political solution.
Critically, the Security Council recognized that achieving a political solution to the dispute and enhancing cooperation between the member states of the Maghreb Arab Union would contribute to the stability and security of the region.
The resolution also renewed deep concerns about the breakdown and the ceasefire, a situation that also raised eyebrows among UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his latest report on Western Sahara.
The Security Council said that it is concerned about violations of agreements made with the UN, reiterating the importance of full and renewed adherence to these commitments.
A remarkable highlight is the UN Security Council’s frequent acknowledgment of Morocco’s efforts, including its Autonomy Initiative, which the large majority of the international community has welcomed as the most serious and credible plan to move the process forward.
By contrast, the UNSC Security Council omitted any reference to Polisario’s Algeria-backed insistence on the need for a self-determination referendum. As usual, the resolution merely mentioned “taking note” of the separatist proposal before reverting back to urging all parties to the territorial dispute to commit to the political process’s spirit of realism and compromise.
Algeria’s regime, which hosts, finances, arms, and supports Polisario’s independence claims, has repeatedly declined to engage in roundtable discussions initiated by the UN to convene all parties to the dispute to discuss and deliberate a realistic and pragmatic solution.
Guterres documented Algeria’s reluctance, rejecting its role in the dispute in his recent report, where he said: “On 27 February 2024, my Personal Envoy met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, Ahmed Attaf, in Algiers, Algeria. On 16 April, he met again with Mr. Attaf on the margins of the Minister’s working visit to New York on Security Council matters.”
Attaf notably conveyed the continued focus of Algeria on “ensuring Western Sahara’s people the right to self-determination,” the UN chief added, further quoting the top Algerian diplomat as insisting that his country is not a party to the conflict.
The new resolution also shared Guterres’s concerns about the human rights situation in the Tindouf camps, encouraging parties to work with the international community to address the situation.
“Noting with deep concern the continued hardships faced by Sahrawi refugees, and their dependency on external humanitarian assistance, and further noting with deep concern insufficient funding for those living in Tindouf refugee camps and the risks associated with the reduction of food assistance,” the resolution reads.
It also strongly reiterated the registration of Sahrawis living in the Tindouf camps, a demand that has been always rejected.
Former Polisario members have attributed the situation to the fact that only 20% of locals in Tindouf are actually Sahrawis while the rest are from other countries like Algeria, Mauritania, and Mali, among others.
Calling, re-calling for all parties’ involvement
Throughout the resolution, the UN Security Council reiterated the need for all parties involved in the dispute to actively participate in the political process, adding that it encourages all parties, including Algeria, to engage with the UN Personal Envoy in a “spirit of realism and compromise.”
It calls upon “the parties to further resume negotiations under the auspices of the UNSG without preconditions, taking into account the efforts made since 2006 and subsequent developments with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution.”
Morocco welcomed the adoption of the resolution on Thursday, with Rabat saying it aligns with the country’s aspiration and vision.
“This new resolution meets the Kingdom’s expectations. It promotes the Moroccan autonomy initiative, calls for the resumption of the political process, addresses human rights violations, and the registration of populations in the camps in Tindouf, and meets Moroccan requests,” Morocco’s ambassador to the UN Omar Hilale said.
The North African country frequently recalls its fundamentals and principled approach, stressing that only the Autonomy Plan can resolve the dispute.
“The proposal for autonomy of the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty is a conclusion and not a starting point for any negotiation,” Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita said in October.
The remarks came in response to UN Envoy Staffan de Mistura’s controversial partition plan, which Morocco has strongly rejected. The North African country also demanded clarification and sources behind the attempt to revive an already “dead and buried” proposal, with Bourita stressing that Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern region is not negotiable.
Appearing to yet again side with the Moroccan plan, the UN Security Council made no reference to, or mention of, the controversial partition plan. Instead, this new resolution also reaffirmed that the only way towards a resolution is through compromise and discussion to reach a political solution.
