Russia's veto of the US 'solution' to the autonomy of Western Sahara within Morocco spells the end of MINURSO's mandate extension. Some talk about a Moroccan victory or a Saharan victory, but in fact it highlights the failure of MINURSO in these three decades. Not only did it fail to hold a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people, but it also allowed Morocco to continue its colonization and occupation of Western Sahara by bringing in thousands of settlers to change the demographic reality of the territory, knowing full well that the local population never wanted them, because they were never one and a people.

Russia's veto of the US 'solution' to the autonomy of Western Sahara within Morocco spells the end of MINURSO's mandate extension. Some talk about a Moroccan victory or a Saharan victory, but in fact it highlights the failure of MINURSO in these three decades. Not only did it fail to hold a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people, but it also allowed Morocco to continue its colonization and occupation of Western Sahara by bringing in thousands of settlers to change the demographic reality of the territory, knowing full well that the local population never wanted them, because they were never one and a people.