A Chinese tourist who lost his wallet in Germany signed the wrong paperwork and ended up at a refugee home.
The trouble for the 31-year-old tourist, known as Mr L., began when he lost his wallet after arriving in the German city of Stuttgart.
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Instead of going to police to file a stolen goods report, he somehow ended up at an office that presented him with an asylum application.
According to Markus Rothfus, the Head of Registration Office in Heidelberg, when he arrived he was given a translator who spoke his language. He was given an asylum application which was also written in Mandarin.
Despite having a tourist visa, Mr. L. still completed the form, and the office processed it.
“A tourist visa is nothing special. For us it does not mean that this person doesn’t want to apply for asylum,” said Markus Rothfus.
“This was clearly differentiated and it was communicated as well, and I can deny the report that he was admitted as a refugee by mistake.”
From there, he was sent to the refugee home in northwestern Germany.
“On the evening he arrived we immediately noticed that something was strange about his behaviour,” said Christoph Schluetermann, an official with the German Red Cross, which runs the refugee home Mr. L was sent to.
“He was asking for an urgent interview which sounded very dramatic,” he said. “He was very agitated and seemed confused and disorientated.”
Authorities used a translation app to communicate with the 31-year-old tourist.
“He clearly communicated that he wanted his passport back, that he had a tourist visa and that his plan was to leave the country and go walking in France and Italy,” Schluetermann said.
Schluetermann says he had to wait for 12 days while officials put his story together.
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After contacting consulates and ambassadors, the Red Cross helped him make his way to the embassy in Frankfurt.
“In the end we were able to let him go on July 20,” Schluetermann said, nearly two weeks after arriving at the refugee home.
Germany has received more than a million refugees in the last year, most of whom have come from war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
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“This case is unusual in that somebody who appeared to be an ordinary tourist ended up in an emergency shelter with the refugees who were fleeing war,” Schluetermann said.
As unbelievable as it sounds, Rothfus said he has seen many visitors arrive with the intention of filing asylum papers before realizing they’re in Germany legally.
“We have seen cases before of people changing their minds,” he said. “They find out they actually have a tourist visa after they entered Germany legally, and ask for their ID back to withdraw the refugee application. This happens. These people can freely and legally move, probably even in other countries.”
-With files from The Associated Press
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