he UN Security Council Resolution 2797 “is not just another resolution. It is an unprecedented political verdict and a roadmap to definitively resolve” the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, stated Omar Hilale, Morocco’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, in New York on Tuesday.
The Security Council “upheld the law” by addressing the issue of the Moroccan Sahara exclusively through the lens of Chapter VI of the UN Charter, which concerns the peaceful settlement of disputes and the maintenance of international peace and security, rather than through the lens of decolonization, the ambassador emphasized during the ordinary session of the UN Committee of 24 (June 15–26).
He recalled that Article 12 of the UN Charter “was expressly drafted to avoid” the institutional duplication in which the Committee persists by examining an issue that falls within the exclusive competence of the Security Council.
“This article has established the Security Council as the sole body in charge of this issue since 1991. This is not an opinion. It is international law. It is the UN Charter,” he insisted.
The Ambassador noted that just as the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to the Moroccan Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, has concluded his regional tour with visits to Algiers and the Tindouf camps, the C24 remains “bogged down in routine,” continuing to examine the issue based on “outdated parameters” – far removed from the new, positive momentum driven by the historic Security Council Resolution 2797.
“This highlights the entire anachronistic nature of the exercise in which this Committee persists,” stated Hilale, recalling that the decolonization process for the Sahara concluded with its irreversible return to its motherland, the Kingdom of Morocco, in 1975.
The Moroccan diplomat lamented the Committee’s continued approach to the Moroccan Sahara issue – a repetitive cycle based on “the same arguments, the same resolutions, the same ideological stances, and the same denial of the diplomatic and political evolution of the issue.”
This “sterile ritual” has yielded no progress toward resolving the regional dispute; instead, it has entrenched stagnation and served the interests of those who prefer deadlock over a solution, and the status quo over a resolution, said the ambassador.
Refuting attempts to frame the Moroccan Sahara issue as a matter of decolonization, Omar Hilale asserted that such an interpretation is “outdated, if not obsolete.”
The Sahara was reintegrated into its Morocco in 1975 following the Green March – a move confirmed by the Madrid Agreement, he noted, emphasizing that “there is neither an administering power nor the characteristics of a Non-Self-Governing Territory here.”
“What exists is a regional dispute, stoked and sustained from the outside. It paralyzes the Arab Maghreb and poses a threat to the stability and security of the entire North Africa and Sahel region,” he added.
In this context, Mr. Hilale emphasized that Resolution 2797, adopted by the Security Council on October 31, 2025, marked “a historic and irreversible turning point” in this matter. “This is not just another resolution. It is an unprecedented political verdict. It is a roadmap to definitively resolve this dispute,” he asserted.
The ambassador explained that this resolution enshrined the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty as the sole basis for the definitive settlement of the dispute, discarded the so-called “polisario proposal,” reaffirmed the once and for all abandonment of the referendum option, confirmed the responsibility of the four parties – Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and the “polisario” – and called upon them to engage in the political process based on the Moroccan autonomy plan and nothing else.
Consequently, he continued, keeping this issue on the C24 agenda amounts to “stubbornly going in circles,” in disregard of both international law – as embodied by Resolution 2797 – and political reality.
He added that persisting with a 20th-century decolonial lexicon means ignoring the international momentum favoring the pragmatic 21st-century autonomy solution, as well as overlooking the fact that the political process has resumed under the leadership of the Personal Envoy and the United States, with discussions held in Washington and Madrid.
The Moroccan diplomat further noted that the parties have officially received the detailed Moroccan autonomy proposal, have discussed its various provisions at length, and have committed to submitting – in writing – the observations and positions they expressed during the three rounds of negotiations.
“Since the adoption of that resolution, the question is no longer which framework will resolve this dispute,” he stated, emphasizing that the framework exists, the parameters are clear, the parties involved are identified, their responsibilities are established, and Morocco has presented a detailed autonomy plan.
The real question today, he said, is how much longer the other parties will persist in obstructionism, evade their responsibilities, and delay the political process.
“The international community will note that the obstacle to resolving this dispute lies not in the absence of a solution, but in the other parties’ refusal to seize the historic opportunity to fully assume their responsibilities for a definitive settlement,” the Moroccan diplomat asserted, warning that “history is full of missed opportunities that later regrets can never remedy.”
In conclusion, Mr. Hilale reiterated that the Moroccan Sahara is not a territory frozen in anticipation of some unlikely status, but rather comprises provinces of the Kingdom experiencing a socio-economic boom and benefiting from remarkable development momentum, driven by the vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
He highlighted, in particular, the more than 87 billion dirhams invested in the southern provinces under the socio-economic development program, the support of over 130 member states to the Moroccan autonomy plan, and the opening of more than 30 consulates in the southern provinces.
“To the misleading decolonial rhetoric propagated within this Committee, Morocco counters with the economic development of its provinces, the prosperity of its citizens, political inclusivity, the promotion of the Hassani culture, and the collective ownership of the region’s promising future,” Hilale concluded.
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