KUALA LUMPUR: More than 820,000 Malaysians are barred from leaving the country after being blacklisted for various offences, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid said that since 2011 the Immigration Department has listed 827,921 citizens on its blacklist, meaning they are prohibited from leaving Malaysia unless they are given special permission to do so.

Bankrupts make up most of those on the blacklist with 200,727 people, while 118,892 education loan defaulters have also been barred from leaving the country, he said.

"520 are on the blacklist for security offences and another 507,782 for other offences.

"Those that are blacklisted are prohibited from leaving the country unless they obtain approval from the authorities relevant to their offences," Dr. Ahmad Zahid said in a written reply to Er Teck Hwa (DAP - Bakri).