KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The number of Malaysians barred from leaving the country in 2016 is already 250,000 more than last year, the Immigration Department revealed.

Disclosing the figures to the News Straits Times, Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said the names of individuals barred from leaving the country are placed on a Suspected List (SL) based on applications by government agencies.

Agencies that have asked Immigration to bar the travels of some Malaysians include the Malaysia Insolvency Department, the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) and Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

According to the latest SL, 707,304 people are already prohibited from leaving Malaysia this year, with PTPTN defaulters making up the most at 261,833 or a four-fold increase from last year.

This was followed by people with outstanding payments to the Malaysia Insolvency Department (212,927) and IRB (128,187).

"Our eGate system will go through the database and those whose names are in the SL will be denied boarding. The eGate system will not provide details on why they cannot leave the country,” Mustafar told the NST.

"Instead they will be directed to the manned counters and given the contact numbers of related agencies to resolve their problem,” he said.

Malaysians who were unaware of their travel status have contributed to the long queues at the Immigration eGate counters, Mustafar added.

They will also not be permitted to board their flights before they resolve the issues that caused them to be flagged.

Among other agencies that have also given blacklists to the department were the National Registration Department, the Royal Malaysia Police, and the Employees Provident Fund.