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Hungary begins building anti-migrant fence on Serbian border; 80,000 migrants so far this year

Associated Press
Published | Updated

A bulldozer of the Hungarian Defence Force is used to prepare the terrain for the building of at the Hungarian-Serbian border near Morahalom, 179 kms southeast from Budapest, Monday, July 13, 2015. The fence is meant to stem the unprecedented flow of migrants, the government said Monday. (Zoltan Gergely Kelemen/MTI via AP) (The Associated Press)

A bulldozer of the Hungarian Defence Force is used to prepare the terrain for the building of at the Hungarian-Serbian border near Morahalom, 179 kms southeast from Budapest, Monday, July 13, 2015. The fence is meant to stem the unprecedented flow of migrants, the government said Monday. (Zoltan Gergely Kelemen/MTI via AP) (The Associated Press)

Hungary's military has begun building a fence on the country's southern border with Serbia, meant to stem the unprecedented flow of migrants.

State news wire MTI says work on the fence started Monday morning on the outskirts of the town of Morahalom, where a bulldozer was preparing the ground for construction. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto had said earlier the 4-meter (13-foot) high fence would be built in the eight to 10 areas "most exposed to the immigration pressure."

Around 80,000 migrants and refugees have reached Hungary already this year. Currently about 80 percent of them are from war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Most request asylum but quickly go to other, wealthier European Union countries like Germany and Sweden before their requests are settled.