The United Nations announced on Monday that it had managed, for the first time in two years, to send a land supply convoy to two locations belonging to its mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) , located east of the berm separating the two parties to the conflict, Morocco and the Polisario Front .

"Between 5 and 7 April, a convoy completed supplies to two locations east of the berm, at Tifariti and Muhairis, with the support of the Polisario Front and Morocco," said the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric.
The organization had announced an agreement on this convoy at the end of March.

He added, "This supply will allow the two sites to continue working," referring to their "urgent need" in particular for fuel.

Dujarric added, "It is necessary to maintain this momentum and ensure that the mission continues its efforts on the ground and its presence throughout the region, with the aim of creating space for progress in the political process" led by UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura.

The United Nations classifies Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, as a "non-self-governing territory" in the absence of a final settlement.

Morocco has been fighting for decades over the fate of this region with the Algerian-backed Polisario Front.

Rabat controls about 80% of the vast desert region, and proposes to grant it autonomy under its sovereignty.

On the other hand, the Polisario Front calls for the holding of a referendum for self-determination under the auspices of the United Nations in accordance with what was approved in the framework of a cease-fire agreement concluded in 1991.

The region has been divided from north to south since the 1980s by a "defensive wall," as the Moroccan authorities who erected it call it.

The UN Secretary-General's latest report in October highlighted the "increasingly serious repercussions" of the supply problems on the ability of the MINURSO teams to perform their mission east of the wall.

No road convoy has been allowed since November 13, 2020, but supplies have been provided by planes and helicopters.

In New York in late March, de Mistura invited representatives of the parties concerned (Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania) and the "Group of Friends of Western Sahara" (France, Russia, Spain, Britain and the United States) to hold a series of informal bilateral meetings.

The envoy is scheduled to submit his final report to the Security Council in a closed session on April 19.