Trump to add new countries to visa ban

US president Donald Trump has confirmed that he plans on expanding his administration’s controversial travel ban, in an interview with the newspaper on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Trump said that he is planning on adding additional countries to the list that will be released later this month. He did not reveal which countries would be added, but he said the names would be announced “very shortly”: “We are adding a couple of countries to it. We have to be safe. Our country has to be safe”, he said.
US media reported that Trump’s administration is planning to add seven countries to the list: Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.
The most recent version of the ban includes restrictions on five Muslim-majority nations: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, as well as restrictions on some travelers from Venezuela and North Korea.
“President Trump’s plan to expand the Muslim Ban is a cowardly and reckless attempt to distract the country and sow anti-Muslim hate”, said the executive director of Muslim Advocates.
Earlier this month, several civil rights organisations urged House leaders to take up the No Ban Act, legislation to end Trump’s travel ban.