New York (United Nations), November 11, 2026 (SPS) – Timor-Leste has warned against attempts to impose a unilateral political settlement on Western Sahara, stressing that restricting negotiations to a single option and removing the reference to a referendum would undermine the Sahrawi people's inalienable right to self-determination.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday during the debate under the “veto initiative” (Resolution 76/262), Timor-Leste's Permanent Representative, Ambassador Dionísio Babo Soares, reaffirmed that the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination must remain at the centre of all efforts to achieve a just and lasting solution.
He expressed serious concerns over provisions in the US-sponsored draft resolution submitted to the Security Council, which sought to make autonomy the exclusive basis for negotiations while removing the reference to the referendum from the name of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
The ambassador warned that such changes raised fundamental questions about whether the Sahrawi people would retain a genuine opportunity to freely determine their political future without a predetermined outcome.
Drawing on Timor-Leste's own experience in achieving independence, he stressed that difficulties in implementing the original settlement plan could not diminish the fundamental right to self-determination, nor justify prejudging the final status of the territory.
He recalled that Western Sahara remains on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and under the mandate of the Fourth Committee and the Special Committee on Decolonization, emphasizing that Security Council efforts must complement, rather than replace, the established UN decolonization framework.
Timor-Leste further warned that determining the political future of a Non-Self-Governing Territory without the freely expressed will of its people would establish a dangerous precedent for other territories awaiting decolonization.
The country also called for maintaining the United Nations' capacity to monitor developments in Western Sahara, supporting the Secretary-General's and his Personal Envoy's efforts to facilitate meaningful dialogue, and ensuring continued humanitarian assistance to Sahrawi refugees.
Concluding its statement, Timor-Leste reaffirmed that the future of Western Sahara must ultimately reflect the freely expressed will of its people.
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