Amnesty International critical of Hungary's asylum system

Hungarian policemen patrol along a barbed wire fence in the transit zone at Hungary's southern border with Serbia is seen near Tompa, 169 kms southeast of Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016. Hungarian prison inmates have ramped up their production of razor wire, working around the clock as Hungary prepares to build a second fence on the border with Serbia to keep out refugees and other migrants. (Sandor Ujvari/MTI via AP) (The Associated Press)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to press after a meeting of Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern and his German and West Balkans counterparts on strategies to deal with Europe's migrant crisis in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) (The Associated Press)

A new report from Amnesty International says that asylum seekers are being mistreated in Hungary, and that its asylum system is "blatantly designed" to deter refugees from seeking protection there.

Amnesty's findings released Tuesday echo similar reports released in the past weeks by other groups, like Human Rights Watch, which have been rejected by the Hungarian government.

Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said earlier that allegations about police beatings of migrants were "sheer lies" and that all reports of abuse had been investigated.

Amnesty is also critical of Hungary's efforts to "push back" to Serbia asylum seekers detained near the border and of the "labyrinthine asylum procedures" which have stranded hundreds of asylum seekers on the Serbian side of the razor-wire border fence built by Hungary last year.