Irregular Migrants
MINURSO has provided emergency assistance to stranded migrants in the Territory on several occasions as indicated in the recent Secretary-General's reports concerning the situation in Western Sahara.
While MINURSO has also contributed to repatriation operations, the Mission's capacity to assist stranded migrants is limited. MINURSO continues to coordinate with humanitarian agencies, as needed, and extend some logistical support for repatriation operations on a humanitarian basis, subject to resource availability and provided that it does not affect the discharge of its core mandate.
In this regard, MINURSO has held talks with UNHCR and IOM to explore ways in which a more coordinated inter-agency response might be established . In the meantime, MINURSO continues to urge these partner organizations to finalize an understanding that would be in the best interests of the migrants.
MINURSO will continue its close cooperation with both entities in providing ad hoc humanitarian assistance to migrants as the need arises.