UN refugees chief warns conditions in W.Sahara 'deteriorating'

The United Nations' top official for refugees warned on Friday that conditions for long-displaced people in Western Sahara were getting worse and that their humanitarian needs were starkly underfunded.

Western Sahara, a mineral-rich former Spanish colony, has been largely controlled by Morocco since 1975, but the United Nations considers it a non-self-governing territory.

Morocco has waged a decades-old conflict with the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the Sahrawi people.

"In Western Sahara, displacement has persisted for more than half a century," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, himself a former refugee, told the UN Security Council. "Generations of Sahrawi refugees have grown up in Tindouf and camps nearby, facing uncertainty and limited prospects."

He added: "Today, conditions are deteriorating, and humanitarian needs remain significantly underfunded. But after more than 50 years, managing displacement indefinitely cannot be the measure of our collective ambition. The status quo is untenable, unsustainable."

In October 2025, UN Security Council members voted in favor of a US-backed resolution stating that Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara was the "most feasible" solution for the disputed territory.