ASOTTHALOM, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian soldiers have begun building a fence on the border with Serbia meant to stop the rising flow of migrants trying to enter the European Union.

On the outskirts of the southern village of Asotthalom, soldiers on Monday were using heavy machinery to drive metal rods into the ground, the first steps in the construction of the nearly 4-meter (13-foot) high fence which the government wants to finish by Aug. 31.

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. Nearly all request asylum in Hungary but try to move to EU countries further west like Germany, Sweden or Britain before their claims are settled.