Morocco’s upper house speaker Mohamed Ould Errachid called Monday on Sahrawis living in the Tindouf camps in Algeria to return to Morocco’s southern provinces, saying the end of MINURSO’s mandate should open a path toward ending decades of displacement.
Speaking during a joint parliamentary session on November 2, Ould Errachid said the failure to renew the UN mission represented more than the termination of a peacekeeping mandate and offered an opportunity to address the humanitarian consequences of the Sahara dispute.
“An entire generation has grown up under tents that were supposed to be temporary,” he said, adding that another generation should not face the same conditions.
“Returning home is not a defeat for anyone, but a return to a house whose doors have always remained open,” he said.
Ould Errachid, who comes from Morocco’s southern provinces, invited camp residents to participate in the region’s economic development under Moroccan sovereignty.
His appeal followed Friday’s Security Council vote, when Russia vetoed an American draft backed by 11 members that sought to restructure MINURSO and establish Morocco’s autonomy initiative as the sole basis for negotiations.
Although the resolution failed, Ould Errachid argued that its support demonstrated growing international recognition of the credibility of Morocco’s proposed settlement.
He credited King Mohammed VI’s diplomatic efforts with expanding international backing for Moroccan autonomy and called on other parties to reconsider positions he said had prolonged the dispute.
The upper house speaker also pointed to Morocco’s September 23 parliamentary elections, saying turnout in the southern provinces had been the highest nationwide. He presented electoral participation and representation in national institutions as evidence of the population’s involvement in Morocco’s political system.
Beyond the diplomatic developments, Ould Errachid called for Parliament to assume a greater role in preparing for the next phase of the Sahara issue.
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