Thousands of tourists from Ukraine and Russia have been stranded in the Dominican Republic because of the war.
Update from Thursday, March 3rd, 2022, 5:30 p.m .: Around 17,000 Russians and Ukrainians are stuck in the Dominican Republic. The Caribbean state now wants to provide them with accommodation. They are guaranteed the right to stay in accommodation “until a final solution to their situation in view of the conflict in their countries is found,” the island state’s Ministry of Tourism announced on Wednesday (March 2nd, 2022). The agreement was reached jointly by the government and the hotel and restaurant association as well as hotel representatives.
The government will inquire about the needs of the people in the hotels in the next 48 hours, it said. According to the information, visitors from the two countries make up around ten percent of the tourists in the Dominican Republic. The Honorary Consul of Ukraine in the Dominican Republic, Ilona Oleksandrivna, tearfully asked President Luis Abinader at a press conference on Tuesday (March 1, 2022) to help stranded Ukrainians. Some of them ended up on the street. The Russian tourists were probably affected by flight cancellations due to international sanctions against their country.
Russia-Ukraine conflict: Tourists stranded in vacation paradise
First report from Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022: Santo Domingo – The Ukraine conflict* is driving many people out of their country. Thousands flee Putin’s invasion. The situation is sometimes dramatic for tourists who are currently on holiday in other countries – they are stuck in the holiday paradise.
Because of the Russian invasion of their homeland, around 3,000 tourists from Ukraine have been stranded in the Dominican Republic – and many of them are running out of money. This is reported by the AFP news agency.
Ukraine War: Tourists from Ukraine stranded in Dominican Republic
The Ukrainians stuck in the Caribbean country need “help from the Dominican Republic, they need money, they need clothes, they need a lot of things,” said Ukrainian Honorary Consul Ilona Oleksandrivna on Tuesday (March 2, 2022) at a press conference in the capital Santo Domingo.
Precisely because many tourists from Ukraine are running out of money, there are problems with the hotels. According to this, about 1,200 of the 3,000 Ukrainians who were stuck had to leave their hotel for financial reasons. “Right now there are tourists on the street,” Oleksandrivna criticized the treatment of her compatriots. “The hotels kicked them out because they couldn’t afford to pay.” An immigration adviser at the Ukrainian consulate said many of those affected were not covered by their travel insurance during a war.
Ukrainians stranded in holiday paradise: “Tourists are sitting on the street” – Honorary Consul calls for help
The difficult situation of her compatriots also affected the honorary consul. Oleksandrivna burst into tears several times at the press conference. She called on Head of State Luis Abinader to hold a meeting to free the Ukrainians from their plight. Dominican Tourism Minister David Collado announced a meeting with private sector officials to ensure the stranded Ukrainians could remain unharmed.
“The Dominican state will react responsibly and with human sensitivity,” assured the minister. The Association of Dominican Tour Operators (Adotratur) announced it would not charge war-affected Ukrainians and Russians for transfers between hotels or to the airport.
War in Ukraine: airspace closed – tourists stranded in holiday areas
On the orders of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, the Russian army invaded Ukraine last Thursday. The attack also directly affected air travel. Planes avoided Ukrainian airspace. As one of a series of sanctions, the 27 EU member states closed their airspace to Russian planes shortly thereafter, and the US also announced this step on Tuesday.
In return, Russia closed its airspace to 36 European countries in Canada. Aircraft from these states are only allowed to land on Russian territory with a “special permit”. Numerous tourists from Ukraine and Russia were also stranded in other holiday areas such as Egypt or the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. (svw with material from AFP, dpa) *hna.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
