Hungarian and Polish soldiers and policemen patrol the Hungarian-Serbian border near Roszke, 180 kms southeast of Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Two days earlier forty-nine Polish officers, including twenty-five policemen and twenty-four border guards arrived to Hungary to assist their Hungarian colleagues with border defence until October 29. The Polish contingent fulfills duty as part of the cooperation between the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. (Zoltan Gergely Kelemen/MTI via AP)
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The Latest on Europe's response to the influx of refugees and migrants (all times local):
6:15 p.m.
Human Rights Watch says Hungary should investigate allegations that uniformed officers are mistreating refugees caught near its southern border and sent back to Serbia.
The group's allegations have been rejected by the Hungarian government.
Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday that Hungary's policy of letting only a handful of refugees a day file asylum requests has stranded hundreds at the border, including vulnerable people like families with children and the sick or elderly. It also reiterated its criticism of new regulations which since July 5 allow officers to send back across the border fence migrants and refugees caught within eight kilometers (five miles) of the barrier.
HRW researcher Lydia Gall says that "making vulnerable asylum seekers suffer needlessly in miserable conditions without legal justification is simply wrong."
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4:25 p.m.
Police from Slovakia will join Serbian patrols on the border with Bulgaria to help stem the influx of migrants trying to reach western Europe through the Balkans.
Serbia's Interior Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that some 15 Slovak police officers will arrive next month. The statement says Serbian and Slovak interior ministers have signed a memorandum in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Serbia has beefed up police and army troops on borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria to secure them from migrant entry. Thousands of migrants already have been stuck in the Balkan country looking for ways to cross into the EU nations Hungary and Croatia.
Migrants fleeing war and poverty have been using clandestine routes since countries along the so-called Balkan route closed down their borders for free entry in March.
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12:55 p.m.
Germany's top security official has called on Islamic groups in the country to help integrate hundreds of thousands of newly arrived Muslim migrants.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere says mosques and Muslim associations have a responsibility to contribute to Germany's effort to teach migrants the language and abide by the country's laws and customs.
De Maiziere said Tuesday that failure to do so "will be much harder for Islam to be accepted in Germany."
Many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrived in Germany since the start of 2015 came seeking refuge from conflicts in Muslim-majority nations such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
De Maiziere acknowledged that Germany has been tested by the influx but insisted that it had done well "by international comparison."
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12:50 p.m.
Authorities of the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland after a fire gutted a detention camp following protests.
Regional governor Christiana Kalogirou said Tuesday she had repeatedly warned the government that camps on the east Aegean Sea islands were dangerously overcrowded.
More than 4,000 people were housed at the camp at Moria on Lesbos where fire which broke out Monday destroyed or damaged tents and trailers. There were no reports of any migrants being injured.
The government is expected to charter a passenger ferry to provide temporary accommodation while the camp is repaired.
New erected fences sits near at the border between Hungary and Austria in Nickelsdorf, Austria, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)
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Workers clean the area after a fire gutted the camp following protests at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Authorities of the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland following the fire and nine migrants suspected of starting the blaze have been arrested, authorities said Tuesday. (Dimitris Tosidis/InTime News via AP)
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New erected fences sits near at the border between Hungary and Austria in Nickelsdorf, Austria, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)
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Migrants watch a large fire as it burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire has swept through a big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz)
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Riot police stand guard as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz)
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Migrants hold their belonging as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz)
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Riot police stand guard as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz)
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Migrants hold their belonging as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz)
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Migrants and riot police stand outside the Moria refugee camp as a fire burns part of the facility on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire has swept through a big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz)
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Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addresses the United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber of the United Nations, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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