Chinese Tourist Mistaken for Refugee, Spends 2 Weeks in German Migrant Camp

Chinese Tourist
image: wikimedia commons

The refugee problem is causing migrant camps to pop up around parts of Europe. This could also be a problem for tourists if you aren’t careful.

A Chinese tourist on a tour of Europe was mistaken for a refugee while in Germany and got “locked into a migrant camp for two weeks  after he attempted to report a crime“, according to Breitbart.

The 31 year old got caught in a big mixup when his wallet was stolen and he wanted to report the crime. The man speaks no English or German and filed the complaint at the wrong office which led to him getting placed in the camp.

The man was supposed to file the report at the police station but ended up doing so at the Heidelberg town hall. It was there that he accidentally signed “a government asylum application“.

Once he signed the form, his Chinese passport was taken, he was x-rayed, fingerprinted and medically examined. Breitbart says that her never resisted any of what was taking place and also couldn’t ask about what was happening.

A local Red Cross director mentioned that the man has “a lot of respect for authority and simply did as he was told.”

He ended up spending close to two weeks in a migrant camp in Dortmund where he was given a bed, food and even some money.

The mistake only came to light as he was transferred by bus to another camp in Dulmen. Brietbart mentions how “he stood out from the rest of the crowd” and seemed “Very, very helpless… “The Red Cross official said he seemed unusually polite and “well dressed” for a migrant“.

It was actually funny how technology helped out. They were able to communicate with the man using a mobile translation app. He told that that he “wanted to walk to Italy“.

Since the man only spoke Mandarin, the Red Cross got some help from an employee at a local Chinese restaurant. They figured out them that he only wanted to continue on his trip to Rome and Paris.

Talk about a crazy two week ordeal. Living in a migrant camp is surely not going to make it into the new Lonely Planet Germany…

Find out more from Breitbart here.

6 thoughts on “Chinese Tourist Mistaken for Refugee, Spends 2 Weeks in German Migrant Camp

  1. Rich- Not sure this is the kind of vacation you want to go on! 🙂

    Darshan- Thanks, corrected the error!

    Dave C- So sorry, I’ll send a note to my proof-reader. lol

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *