Germans Worry About Growing Migrant Numbers

In the hills just south of Luxembourg, where EU interior ministers are meeting to discuss the ongoing migrant crisis, is the German town of Lebach.

It has a population of 6,000; or at least it should do but, for now, it's 9,000.

On the edge of the town is a small refugee camp which is home to 3,000 men, women and children from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is government-run, organised and relatively clean. It is in places like this that all those who've travelled through the summer across Europe have ended up.

"Sometimes it's very difficult because a lot of people come at the same time and so we have to find structures for how to get along with this big amount, but it works," camp manager Christoph Hoffman says.

Every refugee here will be granted permission to stay and work in Germany; decisions that form part of a policy which is now testing Germany's tolerance to the limit.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has watched her popularity ratings slump to a four-year low over the past couple of months.

The Lebach camp is one of many all over Germany.

Those living here have heard that they are lucky to have ended up in Lebach.

They communicate with friends through WhatsApp and the rumours are that some of the other German camps are in a much worse state.

The refugees are provided with bags of food twice a week. Once a month, each of them is given the equivalent of £100. The German government foots the bill.

Charities hand out clothes. We watch a young girl being measured for a warm coat; fittings now are for the winter ahead.

Our visit coincides with that of local bishop Stephan Ackermann.

He is shown the camp's mobile clinic and is well aware of the questions and concerns locals have about the migrant crisis.

"There is the is a fear from those who are not engaged and I think the most important thing is to make the knowledge of the refugees and to see they are woman and man and we can help," Bishop Ackermann tells us.

The bishop is talking about refugees like Bassel Shekhany - a 26-year-old Syrian who we first met in Budapest, Hungary, a month ago.

Throughout this time, we have stayed in touch, followed his progress and got to know him.

He sent me regular WhatsApp messages as he continued his journey through Europe and it was he who invited us to the Lebach camp.

He is a graduate of Damascus University's biology department where he secured a degree in microbiology.

He was halfway through his masters in medial physics at Syria's Atomic Energy Commission when he decided it was time to escape his country.

He now shares a small room with two other Syrian men in the Lebach camp.

He is quiet and shy but happy because he has been issued with the paperwork which allows him to stay in Germany.

"I hope to complete my studies here in Germany," he tells me, explaining that he has done some research and discovered that there was a university in Bremen, northern Germany which had just the right course for him.

Bassel was married in March to Zanzon, but she is not with him now.

She is at the other end of a bad Skype connection in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The couple speak daily, share memories of home and discuss the dreams ahead.

It's clear from talking to Bassel that he and Zanzon have planned things meticulously.

He has done what so many other young Syrian men have too.

He has escaped Syria to prepare a better life for their family who will follow.

If he had remained in Syria, his choice was jail or the military and probable death.

Now that he has permission to remain in Germany, his wife will automatically get residency too.

Last month alone 200,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Germany. That is more than during the whole of 2014.

The number is set to rise substantially as many follow Bassel's plan and bring their families here too.

What does this mean for the health system, the welfare system? And what about the rise of far-left and far-right parties?

The mayor of Lebach, Klauspeter Brill faces questions every day from the residents of his town.

"There are many people. They fear that more and more people will come to Lebach and they don't know how long will this last.

"How many people want to be here in a few months?" Mayor Brill says.

"We try to make the situation so that it's possible that there is a small limit but there are so many people who come to our country so it's not easy to get the right answer." he says.