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Rabat – The Sahrawi Movement for Peace has urged the UN to adopt a more inclusive consultation framework amid Western Sahara talks convened by the US in Madrid.
The news website Atalayar published a report based on a letter that the movement’s first secretary addressed to UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, urging him to hold a more inclusive consultation.
The letter comes as the US mission in the UN confirmed today the holding of a meeting convening all the parties to the Western Sahara dispute, including Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and Polisario.
The mission stressed that it facilitated talks among the parties to the dispute regarding the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2797 on the conflict.
The letter by Hach Ahmed Bericalla explicitly emphasizes that Polisario is not a representative for Sahrawis.
Atalayar quoted the letter as saying that the movement considers it “inconceivable” that a single organization, ‘totalitarian in nature and with an angle-party practices,’ continues to monopolize the voice and aspirations of an entire people in contradiction to the principles of freedom of expression.”
Many international actors continue to stress that the Polisario cannot be regarded as the sole legitimate representative of Sahrawis. Persistent divisions continue even within the Tindouf camps, with numerous reports from international organizations and NGOs emphasizing that dissenting voices inside the camps face restrictions.
Backed, sheltered, financed, and armed by Algeria’s regime, Polisario’s leadership maintains tight control in an isolated desert area where freedom of movement is severely restricted.
Around 90,000 Sahrawis remain confined to the camps, facing difficult humanitarian conditions that repeatedly raised concerns over mismanagement and diversion of aid. Such concerns are echoed by Polisario members themselves.
Read also: Western Sahara: US Bets on New Round of Talks in Madrid
Ecsaharaoui, a Spanish-language public official – once loyal to the separatist movement, in September 2025 published a report, which explicitly sharply criticized Polisario and its leadership.
The outlet denounced Polisario’s “septuagenarian” rulers for having engaged in “imprudent practices,” transforming “a national cause into their personal cause” while systematically destroying all political credibility the movement once possessed.
Political and academic observers internationally have been urging the UN to cease recognizing Polisario as a representative of the Sahrawi people.
In April 2025, the American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Rubin challenged the UN’s position on Polisario’s legitimacy.
“No one has ever elected them to such a position, and no one has given the Sahrawi any say,” he said.
Officials, including US congressmen and senators, have also urged Washington to designate Polisario as a terror group, citing its collusion with Iranian-proxy Hezbollah.
Recently, US Senator Ted Cruz slammed US administration officials for repeatedly avoiding questions about whether Washington plans to designate the separatist group as a terror organization.
Cruz made his remarks during a Senate hearing on counterterrorism efforts in North Africa and the Sahel.
During the hearing, he pointed a rebuke to US officials for what he described as a deliberate refusal to acknowledge the Polisario and its links to terrorism.
