Migrants wait for a train to take them across Macedonia to the Serbian border — the next obstacle on their trek to Hungary

The people smugglers made an unlikely pair. The younger man sipped a frappé and exuded footballer chic, his hair gelled stiff into a vertical stripe, a diamond stud in each ear, tattoos, and a bright pink T-shirt stretched across his podgy stomach. The older man looked more like a traditional Balkan mobster, with a thick gold necklace, Adidas tracksuit and sunglasses balanced on his shaved head. He was chain-smoking Macedonian cigarettes.

The pair base themselves in the cafés of Gevgelija, a small casino town on Macedonia’s border with Greece. Much of the international focus on migrant arrivals has been on those washing up on Greek islands, but this obscure place is every bit as important to those trying to start a new life in Europe.