Nearly 800,000 Malaysians are on a travel blacklist, and cannot leave the country, according to the Immigration Department.
790,186 individuals are unable to leave the country due to several unsettled infractions with various government organizations. Director-general of Immigration Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali told a press conference at KLIA that 447,890 were National Higher Education Fund loan defaulters. 138,028 were on the blacklist via the Insolvency Department, and another 107,884 were unable to fly due to outstanding payments to be made to Inland Revenue.
Rounding out the back were 7,024 people blacklisted by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), 6,091 by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and finally, just 1,543 by the Immigration Department itself.
Regarding the growing list of no-fly Malaysians, the Immigration Department, along with Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad, have set up a separate kiosk where Malaysians can check if they’re been blacklisted before leaving overseas.
The pre-screening may also save some individuals the indignity of getting to their gate, and then publicly being barred from getting on the plane because they haven’t paid off that student loan.
