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Hungary has received 110,000 asylum requests in 2015, official says as migrant flow continues

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Hungarian soldiers build a fence on the Hungarian - Serbian border near Asotthalom, Hungary on Monday Aug. 10, 2015, as the flow of migrants continues to hit Hungary’s southern borders. More than 100,000 migrants have reached Hungary on routes across the Balkans so far in 2015. Recently, some 80 percent of them are from war zones like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky) (The Associated Press)

Hungarian soldiers build a fence on the Hungarian - Serbian border near Asotthalom, Hungary on Monday Aug. 10, 2015, as the flow of migrants continues to hit Hungary’s southern borders. More than 100,000 migrants have reached Hungary on routes across the Balkans so far in 2015. Recently, some 80 percent of them are from war zones like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky) (The Associated Press)

Hungarian soldiers build a fence on the Hungarian - Serbian border near Asotthalom, Hungary on Monday Aug. 10, 2015, as the flow of migrants continues to hit Hungary’s southern borders. More than 100,000 migrants have reached Hungary on routes across the Balkans so far in 2015. Recently, some 80 percent of them are from war zones like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky) (The Associated Press)

The head of Hungary's immigration office says it has received 110,000 asylum requests so far in 2015, a development that has prompted the government to start building a fence on the border with Serbia.

Zsuzsanna Vegh said registered asylum seekers were directed to one of Hungary's refugee centers to await decisions over their requests, but that most left the country for other destinations before their cases were settled.

Vegh said Monday on state radio that they were now sheltering some 4,500 refugees, double their normal capacity.

Babar Baloch, spokesman for the U.N.'s refugee agency in Central Europe, said the number of families with young children among the refugee groups was on the rise.

The 175-kilometer (109-mile) fence, which began construction last week, is scheduled to be finished by Aug. 31.