The number of asylum seekers arriving in Norway has plummeted by 95 per cent since the start of this year as the country continues strict border checks and financial incentives for migrants to leave voluntarily.

Figures from the country’s Directorate of Immigration (UDI) showed that almost 23,000 people applied for refugee status in the country in the final four months of last year – a national record.

But the number fell to under 1,200 in the first third of 2016, with applicants mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia.

Asylum seekers sent back

“This is the lowest number of asylum seekers coming to Norway since the first four months of 1997, when 499 asylum seekers came,” a spokesperson for the UDI said, according to a translation by The Local.

“(The reduction) is clearly related to border and ID checks in Norway, Sweden and Denmark and elsewhere in Europe.“

With the trend expected to continue, the agency has reduced the predicted number of asylum applications this year to 25,000 from 33,000.

Human rights organisations and opposition politicians criticised a new asylum and immigration bill presented in April, which allows officials to refuse entry to anyone who did not come directly from conflict zones by passing through other nations on their journey through Europe.

Of around 5,500 refugees who passed over the Storskog border crossing between Norway and Russia last year, almost 1,000 had their asylum cases dismissed on the grounds that they arrived from a “safe third country”. Only 1,500 were granted asylum and 1,800 are awaiting a decision.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

Human Rights Watch warned of a “lack of assurance” from Russian authorities that those sent back would be given a fair hearing.

“Norway should not return asylum seekers to Russia without examining their claims individually,” Tanya Lokshina said.

“Both Russia and Norway need to step up their asylum procedures to ensure that people seeking protection from persecution and harm are offered a meaningful opportunity to get that protection.

“Otherwise both countries will be directly violating their obligations under international law.”

But Norway’s right-wing coalition government has been bullish about its new policies, delaying family reunification for three years and requiring refugees financially support family members in measures that caused the UN refugee agency to voice “deep concern”.

Two refugees attempt to cross the Norwegian border in the nearby town of Storskog (Getty Images)

Erna Solberg, the Prime Minister, hailed the policies a success last month.

“We now have a significantly lower influx of refugees,” she said.

“Some of it is due to putting behind us a long stretch with border controls that allowed many to previously seek asylum. Some of it is due to many now perceiving Norway as a stricter country and thus fewer people seek to come here.”

The UDI also offers up to 20,000 krone (1,800) to asylum seekers who voluntarily return to their home countries.