Ryszard Cholewinski

Dr. Ryszard Cholewinski is a Senior Migration Specialist in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Regional Office for Arab States in Beirut, covering 12 Arab states and territories. Ryszard oversees research, programming and projects being implemented across the region around the themes of the protection of migrant workers and labour migration governance.

Ryszard has contributed as an expert resource person on labour migration, migrant workers’ rights and international standards in DTP’s programs on migrant workers’ rights in Doha, Qatar and Beirut, Lebanon. Ryszard has a high opinion of DTP’s training.

“I found DTP training very useful, mainly because DTP managed to get various relevant stakeholders in training venues. In the Doha, Qatar training I was engaged in, there were participants from the Labour Ministry in the room, together with other stakeholders from civil society and then, in Lebanon, NGOs and journalists from Lebanon and the region participated. It is valuable to conduct training targeting a broad range of stakeholders, particularly in Gulf countries where there are limitations, including a lack of interactions between civil society and government.”

Ryszard has been working in this field for over 30 years and is a leading global expert on migrant workers’ rights. He has written extensively on migrant workers’ rights and international law. His interest in the field of migrants’ rights, developed during his university years in Canada. His PhD thesis was published by Oxford University Press as a book Migrant Workers in International Human Rights Law: Their Protection in Countries of Employment.

Ryszard is committed to working on labour migration and protection of migrant workers in the Arab region because “there’s a lot to be done”. Though Ryszard believes many countries in the region have improved working conditions for migrant workers, myriad problems such as forced labour practices, limited freedom of association, and a democratic governance deficit persist. According to Ryszard, these are among the factors that pose challenges in establishing a transparent and workable justice system for migrant workers in the region.

Ryszard acknowledged that conducting human rights-focused training in the Gulf is sensitive and challenging, including because of the human rights situation in the Gulf states, sensitivities around migration, and limited space for civil society. Ryszard applauded DTP’s strategic partnership with local actors who helped DTP tailor the training to the situation in the Gulf, and involve diverse participants from migrant communities, NGOs, business and government. His experience was that when the government actors participated, they found the training and the interactions with others useful.