Hungary rushing to finish border fence amid migrant crisis

Migrants along the Hungary-Serbia border.
(Image credit: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images)

Thousands of migrants escaping poverty and violence are arriving in Europe every week, and Hungary is racing to finish a 108-mile border fence in order to keep them out.

The goal is for the fence, which is covered in barbed wire and stretches across the border with Serbia, to be completed by the end of August. On Monday, a record 2,093 asylum-seekers arrived in Hungary, double the number in recent weeks, The Washington Post reports. Most are fleeing from Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. Last week, János Lázár, the chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said, "Unless we do something, we will become a lifeboat sinking under the weight of people holding on to it and drowning everybody, both those seeking help and those offering help."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.