Chinese Tourist Mistakenly Ends Up in Refugee Camp

A simple mistake due to language barriers left a man stranded at a refugee center for almost two weeks. An unidentified 31 year old Chinese man, who spoke only Mandarin, had traveled to Europe by himself as a tourist only to have his wallet stolen. When he turned to local officials to report his stolen property, he unwittingly signed an asylum application. After being robbed in the town of Heidelberg, the man mistook the city hall as a police station, where he accidentally signed the application in the midst of confusion. A routine for asylum seekers, the man was sent to a processing center, then a refugee reception center 220 miles away in the town of Duelmen. Upon arrival, his passport was confiscated and he began his daily routine amongst thousands of other refugees in the shelter.  

Trapped in the bureaucratic blunder for almost two weeks, the man reportedly kept attempting to relay his story but no one could understand him. He eventually drew the attention of a Red Cross staff because of his neat attire and his repeated request for his passport back, all very uncommon for most refugees. Using a mobile translation app, local authorities were able to make basic communications with the man but it was not much help. It wasn’t until two weeks later that the truth was revealed when a local Chinese restaurant was enlisted to assist in translation. The man is said to have continued on his journey throughout Europe after resolving the misunderstanding.  

Since the incident, Chinese netizens have taken to online discussion forums to express their respect for the unidentified man. While some are impressed by his courage to travel independently unable to communicate, some questioned if he had intended for a short-cut immigration.