Hungary Begins Building Border Fence to Keep Out Migrants

The Hungarian government began building a controversial wall along its border with Serbia on Monday in a bid to stop the flow of migrants. Soldiers began erecting the fence just days after the country's parliament approved the plan.

"Works have begun on the construction of a section of the temporary border control fence," said a joint statement from the ministries of interior and defense.

The plan was announced by the government last month as the European Union struggles to find solutions to the increasing numbers of migrants attempting to come to Europe through the Mediterranean.

The plan to build the almost 4 meter high (13 feet) wall along the 177-kilometer (110 mile) border drew criticism from Serbia and the EU.

#Hungary: antimigrant wall costs 100mil€, Cruel and more expensive than asylum, paid by #EU.Total human and economic waste @europeangreens

— Monica Frassoni (@monicafrassoni) July 10, 201

The starting of the construction comes few weeks after the United Nations urged Hungary's right-wing government against pushing for a new policy that would make refugees fleeing war-torn countries ineligible for asylum in the country.

The proposed law would shorten the asylum-screening time and deny asylum claims of those who migrated through other so-called safe countries on their way to Hungary without applying for asylum.

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Since it came to power, the country's government has been accused of anti-immigration policies after Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is also behind the anti-migrants wall, used a poster campaign with slogans such as "If you come to Hungary, you cannot take Hungarians' jobs."

Over the last two years, Hungary has been one of the main routes for people hoping to cross into Austria and Germany, most coming from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Kosovo. Hungary is the start of the EU's visa-free Schengen zone, enabling migrants to move freely to any country in the EU.

So far in 2015, Hungarian authorities have registered 78,190 migrants crossing its border illegally, about 77,600 of whom have entered from Serbia.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration said Friday an estimated 150,000 migrants have now crossed into Europe by sea since the start of 2015.

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