Morocco Marks Green March as UN Mission Lapses
Morocco commemorated the 1975 Green March as the UN Security Council failed to renew the MINURSO peacekeeping mandate in Western Sahara.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Military
Morocco on Friday commemorated the 1975 Green March, a mass mobilization into then-Spanish-controlled Western Sahara. The anniversary comes as the UN Security Council failed to renew the MINURSO peacekeeping mission's mandate, which expired October 31.
Why it matters
The lapse ends a 35-year UN presence established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and organize a referendum on the territory's future. Morocco has welcomed the decision, while the Polisario Front says the territory's people must be allowed to choose independence through a referendum.
Morocco says about 350,000 civilians took part in the 1975 Green March, and the MINURSO mandate that began in 1991 expired October 31 after 35 years. The stub does not specify a successor arrangement or any new vote count on the mandate.
The players
Polisario Front
The independence movement that rejected the arrangement after the Green March and says the territory's people must be allowed to choose independence through a referendum.
MINURSO
The UN peacekeeping mission established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and organize a referendum in Western Sahara, whose mandate has now lapsed.
The details
King Hassan II called on Moroccans to enter Spanish-ruled Western Sahara on November 6, 1975, and Spain withdrew the following year. The Polisario Front rejected the resulting arrangement and continued its fight for independence, and Morocco now controls most of the territory, which it calls its 'southern provinces.'
Timeline
November 6, 1975: Green March begins as Moroccans enter Spanish-ruled Western Sahara.
1991: MINURSO peacekeeping mission is established to monitor a ceasefire.
October 31, 2026: MINURSO mandate expires after the Security Council fails to renew it.
November 6, 2026: Morocco commemorates the Green March anniversary.
Season Trajectory
The non-renewal of MINURSO's mandate marks the end of a 1991 UN arrangement that was meant to bridge the 1975 Green March to a referendum. Morocco's growing support from allies including the United States and France for its autonomy proposal suggests the dispute is moving toward a Moroccan-led solution.
With MINURSO's mandate expired, the UN monitoring presence and its referendum process are no longer in place for Western Sahara. Readers following the dispute should watch for how the parties respond to the lapse and whether any successor arrangement is proposed.
The takeaway
The lapse of the MINURSO mandate removes a long-standing UN monitoring mechanism from a dispute that has persisted since the 1975 Green March. How the Polisario Front and Morocco proceed without it will shape the territory's path forward.
Further reading
For more on this dispute, see the Military section.
