Fr. Olivier Morin, S.J. Working With Thai and Malaysian Prisioners

PETALING JAYA: It is the thought that they may one day be able to go home that keeps foreign prisoners, including Malaysians, in Thailand going, a Jesuit priest providing support for prisoners in the kingdom said. And it is this reason that Father Olivier Morin hopes that the governments of Malaysia and Thailand will speed up the signing of a prisoner exchange treaty which they have agreed to in principle.

Father Morin said Malaysians in Thai pri­sons always harboured “the big hope” that they may be able to return to Malaysia to finish their prison sentence. “You cannot imagine their joy when they found out that the Malaysian authorities were considering the possibility of having a transfer treaty,” he said. “I understand that with the new government in Malaysia and with the political instability in Thailand, prisoners may not be top priority, but I really hope that the authorities will not forget them.” The 70-year-old priest, who is based in Bangkok, has been working with inmates of all races and religions in Thai prisons since 1991.

He was here recently to conduct a retreat with a non-governmental organisation which served the needs of refugees. Last year, the Foreign Ministry said Malaysia and Thailand had in principle agreed to a prisoner exchange treaty but it had yet to be inked. “I really hope that the foreign ministries of both countries will look into this and work on it,” Father Morin said. He said Thailand had so far signed transfer treaties with Britain, France, Canada, Sweden, Estonia, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan and Laos. He said serving out sentences in home countries was good for prisoners. “You can hear your own language, and you know you are close to your roots,” he said. He said it was also more feasible for family members to visit the prisoners, who often came from very poor backgrounds, in their own country. Some spend 10 or 20 years in jail and never get to see their wives or mothers. “For the Malaysian prisoners in Thailand, they don’t see their life ending in Thailand. “They really believe that one day they will leave those gates and can go back to their home country. And that gives them the psychological motivation to continue living,” he said.

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