…Set To Ban Sierra Leone & 42 Countries

– Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba Summons U.S. Ambassador, Bryan Hunt

Donald Trump’s government is planning another spate of travel bans targeting travellers from dozens of countries.

The US President is expected to ban people from 43 countries in the wake of the dramatic Russia-Ukraine war ceasefire talks.

Trump’s latest string of 2025 travel restrictions lists countries like Iran, Syria and North Korea, but also Russian allies like Belarus and Turkmenistan, Reuter’s reports citing a leaked memo and sources.

The countries were organized into three different groups facing various levels of visa restrictions, including a full visa suspension, the New York Times first reported.

Here is a roundup of the countries at risk of a US travel ban.

While some of the countries many of them Muslim-majority had been on Trump’s first-term travel ban list, others were new additions, such as Bhutan. It is unclear why the small, peaceful country with giant neighbors China and India was on the list.

The US State Department has not immediately responded to a request for a comment.

A US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there could be changes on the list, which has not yet been approved by the administration, according to the New York Times.

Meanwhile, Trump’s unofficial right hand figure, Elon Musk, has made headlines as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tasked with ‘cutting’ government staff.

Trump said yesterday the ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine are ‘very good.’ He pleaded with Vladimir Putin to spare the lives of ‘thousands of Ukrainian troops’ who are ‘surrounded by the Russian military and in a very bad and vulnerable position.’

If not preoccupied with the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire proposal, Trump has been sowing uncertainty among his neighbors after incendiary remarks, including in Canada and Greenland, which has been colonized by Denmark since the 18th century.

He said Canada should be a US state and that the two neighbors would create ‘the most incredible country visually.’

Safe to say, this hasn’t gone down well with Canadians. The country’s new PM Mark Carney, who was sworn in yesterday after Justin Trudeau’s resignation, said Trump’s talk is ‘crazy’ and that Canada will ‘never ever’ be the 51st US state.

Trump reiterated his intentions to annex Greenland, saying he thinks ‘it’ll happen.’ Meanwhile in Greenland, a pro-independence party won a general election on Wednesday, which could set wheels in motion to separate the Arctic nation from Denmark.

Instead of improving the lives of millions of Americans, the US administration rushed to carry out immigration raids across cities during the first hours of Trump’s leadership.

It sparked fear among undocumented migrants in so-called sanctuary cities, while US universities advised foreign students to return to campus before Trump’s inauguration.

Meanwhile, the US economy faces the risk of recession – a stark difference from the landscape Trump was promising to voters during last year’s election.

JP Morgan analysts have upgraded the possibility of recession from 30% to 40% now, warning that the US policy is ’tilting away from growth,’ BBC News reports.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba has requested a meeting with the US Ambassador, Bryan Hunt following news of a proposed travel ban by the US government on Sierra Leone nationals.

Information reaching our desk indicates that the meeting will focus on the rationale for the visa restriction on Sierra Leone nationals by the US government.

Last week, the New York Times reported that Sierra Leone is placed among 42 other countries with proposed travel restrictions from the US Department of Homeland Security.

In a list shared last week by the New York Times, Sierra Leone is placed in the orange tier section indicating that visas will be restricted for Sierra Leone nationals. The section also includes Pakistan, South Sudan, Russia and Eritrea.

The ban is thought to be part of the Trump administration’s strategy to restrict immigration from countries deemed as rogue states. In addition, some residents of the West African nation are suggesting that the ban may be linked to the country’s recent entanglements in narcotics scandals.

However, the official reason for the proposed ban will surface early this week after the meeting between the Foreign Minister and the US Ambassador.

List of Travel Ban Countries

Here are the countries where all travel has been banned:

• Afghanistan

• Yemen
• Bhutan
• Cuba
• Iran
• Libya
• North Korea
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Syria
• Venezuela

And travellers from these 10 countries are expected to have their visas restricted:

• Belarus
• Eritrea
• Haiti
• Laos
• Myanmar
• Pakistan
• Russia
• Sierra Leone
• South Sudan
• Turkmenistan

Finally, these countries will be given 60 days to address issues such as passport security and alleged selling of citizenships to people from banned countries, Mail Online reports:

• Angola
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Chad
• Republic of Congo
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Dominica
• Equatorial Guinea
• Gambia
• Liberia
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mauritania
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• St. Lucia
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Vanuatu
• Zimbabwe