Barbados’ Foreign Affairs Minister, Maxine McClean has dismissed allegations by a Jamaican woman who says she was mistreated by Barbadian immigration officials on a visit to the country two weeks ago.

The woman, Shanique Myrie says she was subjected to two demeaning cavity searches by a female immigration officer at the Grantley Adams airport, when she arrived in Barbados on March 14. She alleges that the immigration officer also made several derogatory remarks about Jamaicans.

The allegations have sparked a diplomatic row between Jamaica and Barbados, leading Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Ken Baugh to write Barbadian authorities demanding an immediate investigation into Ms. Myrie’s claims.

Minister of National Security, Dwight Nelson has also asked Public Defender, Earl Witter to intervene.

However, in a story published by CANANews today, Minister McClean says a thorough investigation conducted by the Barbados Immigration and Customs Departments into the allegations by Ms. Myrie shows that the accusations are false.

According to the Barbados Minister, Ms. Myrie was denied entry into Barbados when she failed to establish where she would be staying in the country.The Minister says Ms. Myrie first told the authorities that she would be staying with a female friend and then changed her story, saying she would be residing with a male friend.

She says immigration officials became suspicious and interviewed Ms. Myrie and also searched her luggage. She says Ms. Myrie’s body was never searched. The Barbados Foreign Affairs Minister says Jamaica's High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago has been invited to a meeting to discuss the incident and other immigration issues between the two states.