Hungary to block Serb refugees with ‘fence’

A fence on Hungary’s border to stem the flow of migrants and refugees from Serbia will be complete by November 30.

Hungarian defence minister Csaba Hende said 900 people would install the fence, which is planned to be 4m high along the 175km border between Hungary and Serbia.

“The Hungarian defence force is ready to complete this task,” Hende said on the outskirts of the southern town of Morahalom, where a sample section is being built.

Interior minister Sandor Pinter said inmates in Hungarians prisons were assembling the parts of the fence, and that people in the public employment programme could also carry out some construction.

Pinter said the fence would be temporary, but immediate because 81,300 entered the country illegally this year. Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic said the decision to build the fence was one of the “challenges and obstacles” faced by the Balkans, despite efforts at stabilising the region.

After talks with Romania’s president, Nikolic described Hungary’s move as an “unfortunate decision” prompted by the migrant crisis.

Over the past months, 80% of the refugees requesting asylum in Hungary have come from war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Most leave within days for richer countries

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