Hungary rushing to finish border fence amid migrant crisis

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."

Experts say it's the worst refugee crisis since World War II, and a fence won't stop the migrants from coming. "What these fences do is push these people into the hands of more ruthless smugglers and put them in even more danger," Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said. "They have already taken so many risks. So they will take more risks."

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