De Mistura to visit Tindouf camps as UN seeks to revive Sahara talks

Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, is expected to visit the Tindouf camps on June 7 and 8, where he is scheduled to meet with Polisario leaders, according to an announcement posted on social media by the movement led by Brahim Ghali.

The visit is primarily intended to lay the groundwork for a possible resumption of talks on the Sahara issue. «The Polisario and Algeria want the UN to play a more visible role in this process, while leadership on the file is currently being exercised largely by the Trump administration», a source familiar with the matter told Yabiladi.

De Mistura is also expected to gather information for the reports that UN Secretary-General António Guterres is due to submit to the United Nations General Assembly in July and to the Security Council in October.

During the Security Council’s April 23 meeting, the UN envoy urged the Polisario to make the «necessary concessions» to help advance a settlement to the Sahara conflict.

De Mistura’s last visit to the Polisario leadership dates back to September 2025.