IMMIGRATION Minister Chris Evans says he has too much power and feels uncomfortable about "playing God'' on individual migration cases.

Senator Evans told an upper house committee today there had been a big increase in ministerial intervention in migration decisions during the Howard government.

Section 501 of the Migration Act allows the minister to cancel or refuse a person a visa on character grounds.

This was the section used by former immigration minister Kevin Andrews to revoke the visa of Dr Mohamed Haneef, after the former Gold Coast hospital registrar was granted bail on a terrorism charge which was later dropped.

Senator Evans said ministerial intervention in individual migration cases had become the norm in recent years and, in some cases, people had no appeal rights.

"I have formed the view that I have too much power,'' he told the senate's legal and constitutional affairs committee.

"The act is unlike any other act I've seen in terms of the power given to the minister to make decisions about individual cases.

"I am uncomfortable with that, not just because of concern about playing God, but also because of the lack of transparency and accountability for those decisions.

"The lack in some cases of any appeal rights against those decisions and the fact that what I thought was to be a power that was to be used in rare cases has become very much the norm.''

There was now an "industry'' in people appealing to the minister in migration cases when this power had been originally intended to be merely a check on the system.

Senator Evans said he was considering an ombudsman's report that called for reform to ministerial power, especially the minister's ability to revoke the visas of long-term permanent residents in Australia.

This followed concern about the Howard government's deportation of Robert Jovicic, who was born to Serbian parents but held permanent residency in Australia.

Despite having never lived in Serbia and not speaking the language, Mr Jovicic was deported to Serbia in June 2004 after committing a string of offences in Australia and having his residency rights revoked by former immigration minister Philip Ruddock.

After a long battle to return to Australia, Mr Jovicic was granted a two-year protection visa in February last year.

Article by The Daily Telegraph