Was Dr Mohammed Haneef desperate to leave Australia?
According to his Barrister Stephen Keim, Haneef’s homecoming is a voluntary departure and that he himself opted for it.
“He (Haneef) complained of homesickness and he wanted to go home. He asked the Government whether he can go and they said yes,” the Barrister told Deccan Herald from Brisbane.
On Friday, the Australian Government dropped all terror charges against Indian doctor. He was shifted to an undisclosed location on residential detention from Brisbane jail, where he was kept in solitary confinement.
Though it was for sure that Haneef will be back to India soon, the Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews had kept everybody guessing on whether he will reissue his visa or not.
Visa  cancelled
The Minister cancelled Haneef’s visa on character grounds, soon after he won a bail against terrorism charges from the Brisbane Magistrate court.
What does it mean? “Voluntary departure means an immigrant is allowed to leave the country without the visa. Such a person cannot visit the country again,” Mr Keim said. Australian Government’s decision to allow Haneef to leave the country on voluntary departure actually means, the Barrister said, “The Government still thinks that he (Haneef) is of such a character that he should not be allowed to enter the country again.” He also said that Haneef is not being deported to India.
However, both Mr Keim and Haneef’s lawyer Peter Russo maintained that they will fight the Government’s decision to cancel visa in the Federal court. “We will continue our fight and the hearing in this regard is coming up on August 8,” Mr Russo said.
As expected, the Immigration Minister stuck to his guns and refused to reinstate Haneef’s visa, though he returned the passport on Saturday.