A WOMAN from Anglesey has claimed she was denied entry to the Dominican Republic with no explanation.

Molly Kelly, who travelled with Oliver Wright, both 22, to the country on June 26 for a 10-night holiday, said she has been left “distraught” by the course of events.

The pair, who are school friends,  flew with TUI into Punta Cana International Airport, where Ms Kelly said she, unlike Mr Wright, was not allowed through passport control.

She said was “completely ignored” when asking security staff what the issue was, before Ms Kelly began “breaking down in floods of tears”.

Neither Ms Kelly, an electrical engineer, and Mr Wright, a university student, had any criminal record, nor were they carrying prohibited items, they said.

Ms Kelly said: “No member of staff was willing to elaborate on why she was being rejected.”

READ MORE:

Work begins on new Hydrogen Hub site in Holyhead

Tree felling at forest near Caernarfon due to larch disease

Charge dropped against footballer after Rhyl-Bangor brawl during match

Having been advised to attend the Embassy of the Dominican Republic, which is based in London, the pair eventually decided that the “best proceedings would be to go with it and get home safely on UK soil”.

Following this, it is claimed that Ms Kelly’s passport had the word “nulo” (invalid/not valid) hand-written onto it.

The pair said they were later left “completely in the dark as to what was happening, why, and where it would go from here”.

It is claimed that they were then asked if they had any luggage, before being escorted by security staff through the airport to collect their bags.

They said they were then immediately escorted to a gate within the airport, and segregated in a pen behind the gate.

Ms Kelly said she then asked for a formal letter regarding why she was refused entry again.

Eventually, they said, they were escorted onto a plane back to the UK and given their passports at the door along with their boarding passes.

Still in tears, Ms Kelly said the flight attendants were prompted to ask what was wrong, before being what had transpired.

“They were all shocked and appalled,” she said.

“They all took very good care of us on the flight. They told us this is actually fairly common with destinations such as Dominican Republic and so on.

“They told us specifically not to worry, as TUI would be in touch when we're back in the UK, and would make it right for us, either by refund or amendment of the booking, due to this being completely unjust.”

Since their arrival back in the UK, Ms Kelly said she has been “passed from pillar to post” by the Embassy of the Dominican Republic.

Ms Kelly said she also requested a full international search from police, but that they were only able to confirm that she was clear of any criminal convictions.

It is claimed that Mr Wright then spent more than five hours trying to contact TUI’s UK customer services regarding the issue, to no avail.

They added: “Molly was arbitrarily denied, given no coherent reason as to why, absolutely nothing in writing, and now it would appear TUI has no interest in making this right whatsoever.

“The way they treated us, and are denying access to information is abhorrent, and for TUI to side with the Dominican Republic, rather than make their own assessment or listen to anything their customers they have a duty of care over, speaks volumes to the way the business operates

“TUI should take responsibility for the extreme harm their careless business practices have caused.

“As you can imagine, we are very distraught and affected by this incident.”

In response, TUI said it has no jurisdiction or control regarding the decisions of immigration in the Dominican Republic.

A TUI spokesperson said: “We are very concerned to hear about Ms Kelly’s experience.

“While we have no control over border control decisions we are doing our best to contact the customer to support them through this situation.

“Our teams have reached out to Ms Kelly and we would welcome conversations to be able to reach a resolution.”