In recent years the concept of migrant vulnerability has been increasingly used as a lens for analysis and an operational category through which to pursue protection, assistance and the promotion of rights for all people on the move, regardless of their legal status. In particular, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have advanced this thinking through separate conceptual frameworks and guidelines.

The journeys of people engaged in mixed migration to and through Libya tend to be long and perilous; over the past few years, news outlets, NGOs, and human rights watchdogs have extensively documented the dangers that refugees and migrants face along the routes to and through Libya. An important gap in the existing research on abuses and protection violations in Libya is an understanding of why certain people on the move are vulnerable to such incidents. To identify the demographic, social, and economic determinants of vulnerability to protection incidents – advanced statistical modelling was applied to a unique dataset of more than 5,000 refugees and migrants who reached Libya, largely from countries in West, Central and East Africa, and were surveyed by 4Mi.