With an unprecedented security price tag of $930 million, this year’s G20 conference of world leaders in Toronto was supposed to be under control. Yet, on June 26th amidst peaceful protests, violent anarchists smashed windows, sprayed graffiti and caused havoc in the downtown core. Four police cruisers were set ablaze and there was even some minor looting. The police arrested hundreds of non-violent protesters and passerbys without process along with those responsible for the destruction.

The atmosphere of the city changed overnight. On June 27th, police presence was noticeably greater. Myself and three other student journalists were searched at least four times each. For the most part, the police were cordial and noninvasive. Sometimes they were downright uninterested and were doing it as a formality. Others were not so lucky. Hundreds were arrested throughout the day without process. A friend of mine who passed by a protest later in the evening was was arrested and held in a detainment facility in the rain without food, water or access to washrooms. People began volunteering to be arrested and taken to the central detention centre so that they could get out of the rain.

Graffiti removal and glass repair companies were hard at work in the morning to fix damage caused by protests the day before. On June 26th, violent anarchist groups smashed windows throughout the downtown core and even took to looting in a few cases.

A man is arrested along College Street and University Avenue in the early morning. Hundreds were arrested and even more were searched throughout the day as police tried hard to avoid a repeat of June 26th.

Police officers search the bag of a protester and question him. For many, this was not a rare occurrence. One student journalist was searched as many as eight times and had a pair of ski goggles, to protect from tear gas, taken from him.

A peaceful but unscheduled bike rally known as the Bike Block meets with riot police along Spadina Avenue. The Bike Block is affiliated with the Critical Mass movement, in which thousands of cyclists across 300 cities worldwide ride through their city streets to protest the lack of infrastructure for cyclists.

After a quick detour around the police, the Bike Block rides south along Queen's Park.

In true Canadian fashion, police and protesters politely discuss their demands.

On Yonge Street, a street-side rock band plays for cyclists as they pass by.

Police escort the Bike Block through Toronto's leafy downtown core.

A Bike Block protester walks along Yonge Street.

A small but passionate group of protesters criticize G20 leaders for inviting Ethiopian president Meles Zenawi, who they claim is responsible for crimes against humanity in the Somali region of Ogaden.

A protester sits before a large contingent of police at the intersection of Bay Street and King Street, where a police car was torched the day before. Later that night, many of the protesters here were sent to a detention centre at Queen Street and Spadina Avenue, where they spent up to three hours in the rain without food, water, shelter or access to washrooms.

In August of 2009, Austin Andrews and I visited Zimbabwe on assignment for the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Our task was to document the work of IOM in Zimbabwe as the country recovered from an unprecedented economic meltdown. Photographs are copyright © 2009 Will van Engen / International Organization for Migration (IOM).

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The IOM Safe Zones

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As part of the Safe Journey Information Campaign, IOM has established two Safe Zones — one in Chiredzi and the other in Bulawayo — in an effort to promote safe migration in Zimbabwe. The Safe Zones are run by teams of young adults who provide formal and informal lessons to youth between the ages of 15 and 24 on the risks and realities of irregular migration. These lessons touch on topics such as human trafficking, HIV/AIDS and gender based violence.

The Safe Zones also provide a safe place for kids in the community to play and socialize. Drifting through the Chiredzi Safe Zone, we saw a group of young children playing board games while others were playing volleyball. In Bulawayo, an impromptu soccer match took up the entire courtyard and was the central focus of the afternoon; if kids weren’t playing, they were rooting for one side or the other. Below is a selection of photographs from both Safe Zones.

An impromptu soccer game at the Chiredzi Safe Zone. The Chiredzi Safe Zone was the first of its kind in Zimbabwe, opened in February 2007.

A group of youth play soccer in the courtyard at the Bulawayo Safe Zone. Opened in Feburary 2008, the Safe Zone promotes education on migration issues.

A group of children play an educational version of Snakes and Ladders which teaches children about the risks and realities of irregular migration.

A group of young women learn how to knit at the Chiredzi Safe Zone. They intend to sell their wares in the community as an additional source of income for their families.

An impromptu soccer match at the Bulawayo Safe Zone.

A young boy dribbles a soccer ball in the courtyard of the Bulawayo Safe Zone.

At the Chiredzi Safe Zone, a group of children play darts. The Safe Zones provide a context where children can play and socialize, while learning about migration issues.

A group of young entertainers sing and dance about the risks and realities of irregular migration.

A poignant drama put on by a group of young actors depicts a young woman being sold into prostitution by a man in her community. Through "edutainment" -- entertaining education -- IOM hopes to reach out to children and youth in the community and deter them from trying to migrate illegally.

In August of 2009, Austin Andrews and I visited Zimbabwe on assignment for the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Our task was to document the work of IOM in Zimbabwe as the country recovered from an unprecedented economic meltdown. Photographs are copyright © 2009 Will van Engen / International Organization for Migration (IOM).

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Migration and Health: Caledonia

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Our journey in Zimbabwe began with a visit to one of the hardest hit villages in the country. In 2005, the government launched a program known as “Operation Restore Order,” ostensibly aimed at clearing illegal housing developments. Critics argue that these slums are bases of support for the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and the operation was a move to consolidate political power.

Soldiers demolished thousands of homes in slums surrounding Harare and other major centres, leaving close to 700,000 people without a place to stay. Several transit camps were established on the outskirts of Harare. Caledonia was one of those places. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) operates a mobile medical clinic in Caledonia once a month. For many this is the only access to medical attention they will have.

Hundreds of Caledonia residents wait to see health professionals at IOM’s mobile health clinic.

A young girl waits in line outside of the medical clinic.

A mother and child await medical attention outside of the mobile clinic.

Two young girls wait outside of the medical clinic.

A mother and child await medical attention at the IOM clinic.

A medical professional checks the blood pressure of an elderly Caledonia resident.

An elderly woman has a routine health check performed.

A child has his eye examined by an IOM health professional.

Located only a few kilometres from one of the richest areas in all of Africa, Alexandra Township — known simply as Alex– is a densely populated slum known for its history of activism and collective resistance. Nelson Mandela described 1940s Alex as “exhilarating and precarious; its atmosphere was alive, its spirit adventurous, its people resourceful.” For three months in 1957, 60,000 residents marched many kilometres to work in protest of a drastic hike in public transit fees. Two months later, a fund was set up by the government and private employers to subsidize transit for township residents.

In the 1960s, the apartheid government announced its plans to demolish all family housing and build 25 single-sex hostels, an effort that was fiercely resisted by residents. Some 70,000 people were forcibly removed from Alex to Soweto and Tembisa but the plan had to be scrapped in 1979 due to high costs and increasing public resistance. In the early 90s, the few hostels that were built became hotbeds of political violence with members of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the African National Congress (ANC) fighting a bloody urban war. It still remains the precarious place it was in the days of apartheid; 19 Alex residents were killed in the xenophobic violence that swept the country in May 2008.

Although electricity has been provided to most of Alex now, it is still referred to as the Dark City for the decades it was without power.

A woman and child sell “fatcakes” to morning commuters.

Alex residents begin their morning commute to school and work.

Alex is organized into three main areas: West Alex, East Alex and the Far East Bank. West Alex, also known as Old Alex (pictured above), is mainly comprised of cheaply built shacks with poor access to water and electricity. East Alex is a middle-class black neighbourhood with some gated homes. The Far East bank is composed of RDP homes built by the government for lower-income residents.

Poorly constructed shacks in front of the women’s hostel.

The humble interior of a shanty home is reflected in a mirror.

A child sits on a sewage pipe near the banks of the Jutskei River.

A township resident walks past a tangled razor wire enclosure.

A schoolgirl walks past an educational mural featuring Sleeping Beauty and the Seven Dwarves. The woman’s hostel looms behind.

A young boy hides from the sun in an Alexandra alley.

Young men warm their hands near a streetside shop.

Often-dangerous overhead power lines are a common site in Alex.

A vocal member of the Umphakathi Development Forum, an organization of concerned township residents, describes the lack of proper sanitation and electricity in Alex.

A serious rat infestation threatens to promote disease in the township. Dead rats are a common sight on the streets, where children play and where most local commerce happens.

Political rivalries that began in the early 80s and 90s still fester in Alexandra. A campaign poster of ANC leader Jacob Zuma lies defaced on a store wall.

An ANC supporter shows off a campaign t-shirt.

A young boy plays in the courtyard of Alexandra’s women’s hostel. More photos from inside the hostel coming soon.

Informal settlements, known colloquially as squatter camps, sit on the river of the Jutskei River. Every year, hundreds of houses along the river are destroyed by rising water levels.

Kids play on the banks of the Jutskei River.

A tree shoots above the tin roofs of the informal settlements.

On the Far East Bank, homes built under the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) are under construction. On the horizon lies Old Alex, where citizens wait years on waiting lists to get an RDP home. Some people we talked to have been on the list since 1996; they claim corrupt officials grant homes to people who will pay a bribe.

An RDP construction worker.

The interior of an RDP home.

RDP construction workers are silhouetted as the sun sets on the Far East Bank.

Check out Austin Andrews’ blog for some great photos from the same day.

Austin and I visited the Apartheid Museum on Wednesday of last week. On display was a Casspir, a landmine protected personnel carrier originally designed for South Africa’s military, but used extensively during the late 80s and early 90s in the bloody years leading up to the end of apartheid.

Union leaders of the Struggle on display behind attempted perforations in the Casspir’s bulletproof hide.