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The Latest: New border law cuts migrant numbers in Hungary

Migrants at a temporary camp operating on the Serbian side of the Serbian-Hungarian border near Kelebia, Serbia, Tuesday, July 5, 2016. Hungarian authorities introduced new border regulations Tuesday, to stem the uncontrolled inflow of illegal migrants and guarantees an opportunity to have their asylum requests considered.(Edvard Molnar/MTI via AP)
Migrants at a temporary camp operating on the Serbian side of the Serbian-Hungarian border near Kelebia, Serbia, Tuesday, July 5, 2016. Hungarian authorities introduced new border regulations Tuesday, to stem the uncontrolled inflow of illegal migrants and guarantees an opportunity to have their asylum requests considered.(Edvard Molnar/MTI via AP)

By Associated Press 2 min read

ROME (AP) – The Latest on Europe’s migration crisis (all times local):

2:40 p.m.

Official data shows that Hungary’s new border policy has practically eliminated the number of migrants who can file asylum claims in the country and then usually continue their journey west.

The U.N. refugee agency and other rights groups say that the decision to take back to the other side of the border fence migrants and refugees caught by police within eight kilometers (five miles) of the border denies asylum-seekers the opportunity to file their claims.

According to police and government data released Thursday, around 130 migrants a day had been detained by police near the Serbian border over the 10 days before Monday. Most of them were expected to seek asylum in Hungary, be taken to open reception centers and then head further west before their claims were settled.