A dream holiday to the Caribbean ended in tears for a pair of friends as they were sent home just four hours into their trip with "no explanation". 22-year-old pals Molly Kelly and Oliver Wright were so excited to be heading to the Dominican Republic but had an abrupt end to their holiday when they were made to board a return flight to the UK after Molly was forbidden from entering the Caribbean nation.
The Mirror reports that Molly's passport was stamped with a red stamp at security, making it invalid for entry into the country. After returning to the UK, the friends are now trying to get answers for what happened and are hoping to get a refund from holiday provider TUI after missing out on their £3,000, ten-day luxury holiday, which was cut very short.
Molly claims that she hasn't got a criminal record and nothing in her past justifies being pulled to one side for further questioning at the airport in the Caribbean. Whilst Oliver walked through without a problem, Molly watched in horror as her passport was stamped with a large 'nulo' stamp, meaning she was unable to enter the Dominican Republic or enjoy her holiday.
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Humiliated, Molly burst into tears as she tried to find out what she had done to warrant being barred from the Dominican Republic. Unable to get an answer, she and Oliver had no option but to board a flight back to Manchester, with the pair claiming they were "completely in the dark as to what was happening".
When she asked for an explanation, Molly said that an official at the airport mentioned the words "justice" and "Colombia" to her, a country that neither of the friends have ever visited. "Throughout the flight and while waiting at the gate, we had other passengers making comments, giving dirty looks such as 'we don’t want to be on the same flight as these criminals', only further adding to our distress and trauma," Molly explained to The Mirror.
"The way they treated us, and are denying access to information is abhorrent."
Pharmacology student Oliver and electrical engineer Molly had been heavily anticipating their luxury trip abroad, during which they were meant to be staying at all-inclusive hotel Riu Republica. The pair landed in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, June 26.
After Oliver was let through border control, a guard scrutinised Molly's passport, attempting to scan it multiple times. Molly said: "The woman then shook her head and pulled a face and disappeared into an interrogation room behind the passport control booth, with my passport, without saying anything."
After being beckoned into a room, the pair asked members of staff what the problem was, but they claim they were "completely ignored". After a short while, Molly was told she would need to visit the embassy in London.
It was at this point that Molly and Oliver decided that the best course of action would be to "go with it" and "get home safely on UK soil". The duo say they have contacted the Dominican Republic embassy and the Foreign Office and made efforts to find out whether Molly has anything on her record that would stop her entering the country, but claim they have found nothing.
A TUI spokesperson told The Mirror: “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."
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