Hungary's government party wants 'exemplary punishment' for migrants cutting border fence

A Hungarian military truck and soldiers stand next to a barbed wire section of a 175 km long fence on Hungary's southern border with Serbia near Kelebia, 178 km southeast of Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015. Hungary’s governing Fidesz party said migrants caught cutting through the fence being built to stop them should be “punished in an exemplary manner,” including prison sentences. (Sandor Ujvari/MTI via AP) (The Associated Press)

A Hungarian military truck passes a barbed wire section of a 175 km long fence on Hungary's southern border with Serbia near Kelebia, 178 km southeast of Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015. Hungary’s governing Fidesz party said migrants caught cutting through the fence being built to stop them should be “punished in an exemplary manner,” including prison sentences. (Sandor Ujvari/MTI via AP) (The Associated Press)

Hungary's governing Fidesz party says migrants caught cutting through the fence being built to stop them on the border with Serbia should be "punished in an exemplary manner," including prison sentences.

Fidesz parliamentary group leader Antal Rogan said Friday that "it is not enough that illegal immigrants are crossing the country's border unlawfully, on top of it all they are damaging property of the Hungarian state."

State media reported 18 migrants had been caught overnight after cutting through the fence. Construction began this week.

Over 110,000 migrants have arrived in Hungary this year, nearly all walking across the southern border with Serbia. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said a 4-meter (13-foot) high fence being built there by the Hungarian army will be finished by Aug. 31.