Post 1945, Peacekeeping, United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), 1991 to 1994

Western Sahara is an arid desert territory on the north-west coast of Africa that shares borders with Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria. Until 1975, Western Sahara, known then as Spanish Sahara, was colonised and governed by Spain as part of the Spanish Empire. In November 1975, Morocco sent around 350,000 unarmed Moroccans accompanied by the heavily armed Moroccan Army into Western Sahara. Feeling pressured, Spain reached an agreement with Morocco and Mauritania, known as the Madrid Accords.
Under the agreement, Spain would withdraw and hand governing control of the territory to both neighbouring countries.
Already discontented with Spanish occupation, the Polisario Front, led by indigenous Sahrawi people, launched a guerrilla campaign against invading forces from Morocco and Mauritania. The territorial dispute led to a 16-year insurgency. It lasted until the United Nations (UN) organised a truce in 1991.
The terms of the truce included a supervised ceasefire and a referendum to decide on Western Sahara's independence.
The implementation of the truce in the former Spainish Sahara was to be overseen by a multinational peacekeeping force known as the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO, from the Spanish Misión de las Naciones Unidas para la Organización de un Referéndum en el Sáhara Occidental).

After 2 years of deployment in Western Sahara, it became clear that the planned referendum would not happen soon. Ongoing disagreements about key elements of the settlement plan continued, particularly around the terms of the election. In May 1994, the Australian Government withdrew its deployed forces from Western Sahara.