Malta is hosting a United Nations meeting to tackle the issue of the western Sahara in northwest Africa, which has been at the centre of decades-long disputes between Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front.

The meeting, which started yesterday and continues today, is taking place behind closed doors.

The western Sahara, mainly desert land, is phosphate-rich and believed to have offshore oil deposits. Generally torn between disputes of a political solution, the western Sahara issue has been at a stalemate due mainly to insistence from both parties (Morocco and Polisario) on their mutually exclusive positions of governance.

In October last year, a 14-year-old boy was killed and several others were wounded as they went past a military checkpoint to enter a camp in the desert to protest against their poor socio-economic conditions and alleged marginalisation by the Moroccan government.

A snowball effect of violence ensued and Morrocco and Polisario continued to exchange accusations regarding human rights violations in the territory and refugee camps.

Proposed ideas on the way forward by both parties are being discussed and developed during the meeting, hosted by Foreign Minister Tonio Borg.