Vulnerability is the set of conditions determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors present in refugee camps that increase the psychological or physical fragility of an individual or family. The protocol establishing Humanitarian Corridors specifically mentioned the following vulnerabilities: the condition of being a single mother with minor children, of being elderly and alone, or of being an unaccompanied minor; plus, having a prior physical or mental handicap, or having suffered sexual or other forms of physical violence or persecution or torture. Under the provisions of the protocol, the beneficiaries of Humanitarian Corridors can be “persons deemed deserving by the UNHCR, at least prima facie, of the recognition of refugee status under the Geneva Convention of 1951 (and its protocol of 1967), but also potential applicants for protection are those living in conditions of objective vulnerability as determined by their personal situation, age, or health conditions.”
