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'Cat And Mouse' For Migrants At German Town

It is pitch dark and just after 5am. The blackness of night is lit up by the blue flash of a police car warning traffic of the impending checkpoint ahead.

A sign at the side of the road gives a clue as to why vehicles are being marshalled to a near halt.

It's telling motorists to slow down and watch out for people on the road.

This is where smugglers dump their human cargo as soon as they reach Germany.

Passau, in the south of the country, is a popular dropping-off point because of its proximity to the Czech and Austrian borders.

Germany has said all Syrians who make it here will be granted asylum - making Germany the number one destination of choice for many.

And that's prompted a massive police operation to clamp down on people smugglers.

As we approach the checkpoint we are waved on. But it's clear a daily game of cat and mouse is under way under a cloak of darkness.

The smugglers switch their drop-off points, trying to out-smart the authorities.

Retired policeman Ali Krenn knows only too well how popular Passau has become for refugees.

He regularly sees them abandoned on the flyover by his home. He found a group of 10 on his doorstep, hungry and thirsty.

"I was shocked to see a group of people passing at 1am armed with flashlights," he said.

"I started to help, they were thirsty, and had two little kids with them. I brought out the water, a big bottle."

Overnight 300 people were picked up and brought to one registration centre in Passau alone. That's in spite of Hungary's restrictions on the movement of migrants by train within the EU.

Among the new arrivals are a group of young boys - there's no mistaking their relief to have made it to Germany.

Europe may be fighting over their futures but after weeks, probably months, in search of a place to call home they are just glad somebody is pleased to help them.