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The news of Hungary sealing its borders with Serbia sparked a lot of debate. I've seen claims they still let refugees through if they go to the official border crossings and fill out paperwork, and only those are rejected who refuse to register, claiming that those trying to sneak through or assault the police are only doing it to avoid registration. I've also seen many commenters who claim that migrants (in the train station crisis two weeks ago) were given temporary documents and they threw them on the ground because they refuse to register and refuse their personal identification to be taken, trying to hint to the claim that many are not real refugees.

However, reading some articles on a few major news sites like the BBC, I never found any mention of this option (to be allowed into the country if they agree to be registered), they just state that Hungary sealed its borders. The words "sealed the borders" and "closed the borders" seem to imply that no one is allowed through, not even legally.

As this is a controversial topic, please refrain from stating your opinion about the migrant crisis, no matter which side you are on. This question only seeks provable facts about whether Hungary allows refugees in if they consent to be registered. Is this claim true or not?

vsz
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  • Precisely because this is a controversial topic, it is important that we have evidence of a notable claim being made. Please link to some examples of people making the claim. – Oddthinking Sep 16 '15 at 16:11
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    Oddthinking, could you please explain how the sealing of Hungary's borders is not notable enough? The whole world is talking about it! – vsz Sep 16 '15 at 16:11
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    @Oddthinking: the claim is exactly what I summarized at the end: that "Hungary still allows refugees if they consent to registration". The claim I've seen until now were not in English, and although they are very widespread I failed to find one on a notable English non right-wing site. This is why I'm asking on Skeptics, and not elsewhere. – vsz Sep 16 '15 at 16:13
  • I want to edit your question down to just the key claim - but it isn't clear what the key claim is. I am attempting to find out. Is it "Are Hungary's borders closed to all refugees?", "Did Hungary offer temporary visas?", "Did some refugees throw away the temporary visas?" "Are refugees sneaking through to avoid registering?" (That's off-topic due to being about motivation.) I'm hoping some references will help us focus the question, and not get carried away wit related issues given the controversy. – Oddthinking Sep 16 '15 at 16:14
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    The claim is that despite reports of Hungary sealing its borders, there is a claim that they still lets refugees in, if they consent to registration. What I wrote in the introduction was just for providing context why I want to apply skepticisms to this claim. I've seen before questions closed exactly for this reason: they just stated a claim in one short sentence, without providing context. This is what I wanted to avoid. If you still think that the intended question is not clear enough, despite it being in the title and bolded at the end, feel free to offer me a suggestion how to improve it. – vsz Sep 16 '15 at 16:19
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    My key suggestion: Add a link to where you read the claim. I am looking myself, but I'm finding a rapidly changing situation. [e.g.](http://www.police.hu/hirek-es-informaciok/hatarinfo/elfogott-migransok-szama), and reports of changing conditions as little [as two hours ago](http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/sep/16/first-refugees-head-for-croatia-after-hungarys-border-crackdown-live-updates#block-55f974f3e4b0ee9ae5e2a98c), which is far too recent to be covered here. – Oddthinking Sep 16 '15 at 16:23

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