Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says Immigration has barred 827,921 Malaysians from leaving the country since 2011, with bankruptcy being the most popular reason for their blacklist. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, March 14, 2016.
The Immigration Department has barred 827,921 Malaysians from leaving the country since 2011, with bankruptcy being the most popular reason for their blacklist, said Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
A travel ban was imposed on 200,727 Malaysians for being bankrupt, 118,892 for their study loans, 520 for security reasons and 507,782 for other offences, the Home Minister said in a written Parliament reply to DAP's Bakri MP Er Teck Hwa.
“Each person blacklisted is prohibited from leaving the country unless they obtain permission from the relevant authorities,” he said.
Er had requested the minister provide a list of citizens blacklisted from leaving the country in accordance with their state and reason, from 2011 to 2016.
Last year, Immigration said it would blacklist those who had disgraced the nation and were deemed a threat to national security.
The department's director-general Datuk Seri Mustafa Ibrahim said blacklisted individuals should not blame the department and pretend to be surprised if their passports were blacklisted.
“The department does not simply blacklist anyone’s passport as it wishes,” Mustafa reportedly said. – March 14, 2016.
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