Spain in 2017 registered a significant increase in migrant and refugee arrivals on its coasts particularly from the Middle East and Syria. Data shows that most Syrians who had reached Spain had not intended to go there.

Spain's Guardia Civil requested more support to patrol the border of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in Morocco, including a 25 percent increase in personnel and new surveillance cameras.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has set in motion an operation to support an initiative by the African Union and the European Union to help 15,000 migrants return home from Libya by the end of the year.

Germany will allocate €120 million to improving the conditions of refugees and migrants stranded in Libya and made vulnerable to enslavement and official violence. The government in Tripoli would administer the funds.