Two minor sisters flew to France to visit family. Instead, they were detained by cops at Charles de Gaulle: ‘The entire airport was looking for us’

Wellieno (@wellieno) from Virginia was just seven years old in 1999 when she visited France with her fourteen-year-old sister. When the sisters got to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Wellieno alleged that cops detained her and her sister.

“When I was seven years old, I was detained by the French police, and it radicalized me,” Wellieno told TikTok. She said that while she didn’t like her experiences with the French, she supports their protests against the police. Her story began in 1999, when she and her sister went to visit family in France. They went without their parents, but Wellieno said their mother had prepared them for the situation. The sisters were to stay with their uncle, whom they would meet at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

“As an unaccompanied minor, there would be airport personnel to transport your kid from the very moment you take them to the ticket counter all the way onto the plane,” Wellieno said. Their escort wouldn’t leave them until they reached their destination, and her mother agreed. They took off, and their needs were attended to by flight crew, unlike this woman, who babysat another person’s child on a 10-hour flight.

“My sister and I share the same mother, but not the same father. So, we have different last names. This is not unheard of,” she added. Wellieno didn’t think this would be an issue until she and her sister landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Then, a female cop allegedly approached their Air France flight attendant and started speaking to her in French.

Detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport

“My sister, her French is good. But my French is better. So, I’m leaning in to try and hear, but they’re basically asking the woman for my paperwork. They’re asking for our passports,” Wellieno alleged. Then, the cop allegedly told them in English to follow her. The flight attendant allegedly let the officer take the sisters.

The moment the cop took them away, Wellieno alleged that everything went wrong. While they were walking down the hallway, Wellieno stopped their flight attendant. She pointed out that the police station was by the wall. She allegedly warned the flight attendant, “If you leave me at any point, I promise you, it’ll be your last day at work.” It’s unclear whether or not the flight attendant stayed, but Wellieno said the flight attendant later took her to find her family. Regardless, the cop allegedly still took them to a detention room.

Wellieno alleged that when they entered the room, the cops began questioning them in French. She said the situation was “interesting” because the cop who took them there initially spoke to them in English. Wellieno said she started to get upset when the cops started questioning them and didn’t understand why they were detained.

“They’re adults, they’re very hard-eyed, and I can tell there is racism, but I don’t know the word for it yet,” Wellieno alleged. But Wellieno was just seven at the time, and she didn’t understand why cops were asking them questions, a confusion a woman in Tennessee also described after a cop pulled her over. She allegedly kept asking the cops why they were questioning her while asking for her tonton (uncle). But as she was getting upset, Wellieno said that the cops separated her and her sister.

Freed from the cops

“For about an hour, they questioned my sister. More than five or six cops questioned my sister in a room that has all the surveillance at Charles de Gaulle,” she alleged. Wellieno said her sister tried to communicate with the cops in broken French and English, and she couldn’t see what was happening.

While outside with one cop, she allegedly asked, “Is this allowed?” The cop allegedly tried to ignore her, but she then said her uncle was looking for her. Additionally, Wellieno said she could overhear the radio buzzing from his pocket. The announcement was in French, but she understood that other authorities were looking for two missing children at the airport. Eventually, the cop with Wellieno went in to get her sister. After five minutes, her sister came out.

Wellieno alleged they were detained for four hours. “The entire airport was looking for us,” she added. When the cops released the girls to their uncle, they allegedly said they were only checking for a discrepancy in their passports. But as a vocal child, Wellieno said she started yelling and correcting the police, telling her uncle that she and her sister were separated and interrogated. However, she alleged that the cops started pretending they couldn’t speak English. Amid the confrontation, one of the police officers allegedly said they were detained because the siblings didn’t share a last name.

They left the airport with their uncle, unharmed. When Wellieno returned to France at eleven, she said she told French personnel at Charles de Gaulle Airport about her story, but they didn’t believe her.

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