The Latest: Rights group accuses Hungary of migrant abuse

BERLIN – The Latest on Europe’s response to the influx of migrants and asylum-seekers (all times local):

3:35 p.m.

A human rights advocate says some migrants sent back to Serbia from Hungary have been severely beaten by Hungarian police and soldiers.

Human Rights Watch says also says in a report released Wednesday that Hungary is quickly dismissing most asylum claims from single men, while accepting only 30 claims daily at border transit zones. This has led to hundreds of refugees being stranded at the border in precarious conditions.

Lydia Gall, the group’s regional researcher, said that “Hungary is breaking all the rules for asylum-seekers” and called on the European Union to enforce its laws.

Since July 5, migrants caught within eight kilometres (five miles) of the border are being returned to the Serbian side of razor-wire fences built by Hungary last year to stem the migrant flow.

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3:30 p.m.

The German government and international organizations say they will establish a global migration data portal in Berlin that will help bring together data from various sources and countries on the movement of migrants and refugees.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s said Tuesday, “we must, within the world community, communicate about how to regulate migration. Unilateral or European answers are not enough.”

The German government will help launch the global migration data portal which will be located at the Global Migration Data Analysis Center of the International Organization for Migration in Berlin. The goal is to make analysis and access to data more efficient.

According to the U.N. refugee agency the number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide raised to a record 65.3 million people last year.