Chapter 2 CHAPTER 2 Refugees 20 million people granted international protection in the last decade Refugee protection is at the heart of UNHCR’s mandate. It includes providing safety for refugees so that they are not forced to return to dangerous situations, providing them access to fair and efficient asylum procedures and ensuring their human rights are protected while they secure a long-term solution for a safe future. Over the last decade, refugee protection work has faced increasingly complex challenges, as the number of refugee situations worldwide has increased. The number of refugees20 has doubled from about 10 million in 2010 to 20.4 million at the end of 2019. 21 In addition, there were 3.6 million Venezuelans displaced abroad at year-end. 22 Unless otherwise stated, all references in this chapter to ”people displaced across borders” refer to these two populations. 20 Includes people in refugee-like situations. 21 Excludes 5.6 million registered Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate. 22 For more details on the Venezuela situation, see page 10. 16 Between 2010 and 2019, 20 million people were granted international protection either on an individual or group basis. This includes close to one million people in 2019: 321,500 recognized on a group or prima facie basis, 60,700 granted a form of temporary protection23 and 570,600 recognized as a result of their asylum application. In addition, millions of Venezuelans left their country in recent years and lodged asylum claims or were granted residence permits and other forms of legal stay in Latin America and the Caribbean. 23 The number of Syrians newly registered in Turkey in 2019 and thus granted temporary protection by the Government is not publicly available. UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2019