ASOTTHALOM, Hungary — Soldiers started building a fence Monday on the border with Serbia, an effort meant to stop the increasing flow of migrants trying to enter the European Union.
On the outskirts of the southern village of Asotthalom, soldiers used heavy machinery to drive metal rods into the ground, the first steps in the construction of the nearly 13-foot-high fence, which the government wants to finish by Aug. 31, along the 109-mile border.
Work on the fence is being carried out at several locations at once, with about 900 soldiers taking part in the project.
Some elements of the fence, including the razor wire to be placed on top of the barrier, are being prepared by inmates from Hungarian prisons, and people in a state work program may also be sent to help the soldiers.
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More than 100,000 migrants have reached Hungary by traveling across the Balkans so far in 2015, compared with fewer than 43,000 asylum seekers last year and 18,900 in 2013.
The initial sections of the fence will be built in the areas, like those near Asotthalom, that are most heavily used by human smugglers, blamed by Hungarian authorities for the sharp increase in the number of migrants.