The Polisario Front has declared a state of “general mobilisation” against Morocco, ten days after the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara came to an end.
The decision was taken at an emergency leadership meeting on November 10 chaired by Brahim Ghali, secretary-general of the Polisario and president of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
In a statement, the leadership accused Morocco of massing troops and weaponry along the sand wall that divides the territory. It called on all Sahrawis to prepare fully for what it described as enemy plots and manoeuvres.
Ghali also urged the peoples of the region to resist what he called Moroccan expansionist aggression, which he said threatened their security and the integrity of their lands. The movement asked the UN and the African Union to act in the face of a possible military escalation.
The Polisario did not say what the mobilisation would involve or give any figures, dates or deployment orders. No independent confirmation of the alleged Moroccan troop movements was available.
The announcement came as the UN General Assembly debated the Russian veto that ended the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) after 35 years. On October 30, Russia blocked a US-drafted Security Council resolution that would have renewed the mission for a year and reaffirmed Morocco’s autonomy plan as the basis for negotiations.
A rival Russian text proposing a simple one-year extension then also failed and the mandate expired on October 31. Moscow argued the US draft sidelined the Polisario and that the Council could not prejudge the question of sovereignty.
Under Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan, the territory would gain its own institutions under Moroccan sovereignty. The Polisario, its main backer Algeria and Russia say this denies Sahrawis the self-determination referendum MINURSO was created to organise.
The Polisario declared the 1991 ceasefire over in November 2020 following a Moroccan operation at the Guerguerat border crossing. Rabat has said it continues to respect the truce.
The European Union has moved towards Rabat’s position. At the EU-Morocco Association Council on January 29, member states backed genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as one of the most feasible solutions.
Addressing the General Assembly, the EU warned that the end of MINURSO had removed the only dedicated UN mechanism monitoring the ceasefire. It criticised the “sudden drawdown without an adequate transition period”.
Brussels’ shift sits uneasily with EU judges. In October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed the annulment of EU-Morocco trade and fisheries agreements because they covered Western Sahara without the consent of its people.
Spain, the former colonial power, endorsed the autonomy plan in 2022 and France recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the territory in July 2024.
