Half A Million Malaysians Banned From Travelling Overseas

Sin Chew Daily, By LAI PEIFENG, Translated by DOMINIC LOH

PUTRAJAYA: 13% of Malaysians holding valid international passports have been put in the list of individuals banned from travelling overseas by the immigration depatment.

Immigration department director-general Datuk Mahmood Adam advised Malaysians to check from the department's website to see whether they are in the list, before making any travel arrangement.

He said Malaysians could check out the list with effect from February.

He said during an exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily that among the 6.7 million holders of valid international passports in the country, about half a million or 13% have been blacklisted by the immigration department.

He said these people either have not paid their income taxes and PTPTN arrears, or are involved in criminal cases, bankruptcies, commercial conflicts, divorces or custody right cases.

Mahmood Adam said passport holders can visit the immigration department's website at http://www.imi.gov.my target=_blank>www.imi.gov.my, go to the "semakan perjalanan" section, and key in their MyKad numbers to find out whether they have been blacklisted.

But to protect the passport holders' privacy, no information on the reasons for the ban would be provided online, as anyone could key in other people's MyKad numbers.

Those who have been banned from travelling overseas are advised to visit the nearest immigration department to enquire why they have been put in the list.