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(CNN) -
At least 650 people died trying to cross the US-Mexico border this year, more than in any other year since an international body began documenting the deaths in 2014.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the agency that documents the deaths, did not specify the reason for the deaths, but crossing the southern border of the United States is often a dangerous journey that along the years it has caused deaths and rescues.
"The increasing number of migrant deaths in the region is very alarming," said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM's regional director for North and Central America and the Caribbean, in a statement.
Migrant apprehensions along the southern US border this year remained high, even during months when the number tends to decline.
This means that thousands of people were exposed to even more difficult elements.
Record number of migrants killed at southern US border 0:46
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has previously said that most migrant deaths at the border have been related to heat exposure.
The agency recorded 557 deaths at the southwest border during fiscal year 2021. That's an increase from 254 deaths in fiscal year 2020 and 300 deaths in 2019, marking a significant increase in the midst of a record 30-year year for border crossings. .
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There were also 12,854 Border Patrol rescues during the past fiscal year, far exceeding the previous four years, which is the length of the agency's record of this data.
The previous maximum was in 2019, with 5,335 rescues.
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In June, when rescues soared, CBP said smuggling organizations were abandoning migrants in remote and dangerous areas.
This caused a dramatic increase in the number of rescues.
Since 2014, 5,755 people have lost their lives while migrating through Central America, North America and the Caribbean, the IOM found.
Mexico-US border.