UN Refugee Chief Warns Western Sahara Conditions ‘Deteriorating’

The United Nations’ top refugee official on Friday warned that conditions for people displaced by the long-running Western Sahara conflict are deteriorating, while humanitarian needs remain severely underfunded.

Western Sahara, a mineral-rich former Spanish colony, has been largely controlled by Morocco since 1975. The United Nations, however, classifies it as a non-self-governing territory.

Morocco has been involved in a decades-long 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,” 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,” Salih said.

He warned that the situation was worsening, with humanitarian needs remaining significantly underfunded.

“But after more than 50 years, managing displacement indefinitely cannot be the measure of our collective ambition,” Salih said. “The status quo is untenable, unsustainable.”

UN Security Council Resolution On Western Sahara

In October 2025, members of the UN Security Council voted in favour of a US-backed resolution that described Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara as the “most feasible” solution to the long-running territorial dispute.