The AP reports:

Jordan is discriminating against Palestinians seeking refuge from violence in Syria by forcibly returning new arrivals and threatening others with deportation, a rights group said Wednesday, prompting denials from Amman.

While the New York-based Human Rights Watch praised Jordan's admission of some 140,000 Syrian refugees, the report said that officials have arbitrarily detained Palestinians in a holding center without any options except to return to Syria.

It also claimed that since April, Jordanian authorities have automatically detained all Palestinians who enter Jordan illegally without the possibility of release.

Jordanian Information Minister Sameeh Maaytah dismissed the allegations as "totally baseless".

"Jordan did not close its doors in the face of any refugee from Syria. Part of those I'm talking about are Palestinians who carry travel documents," he told The AP.

HRW's report could not be independently verified.