Chinese tourist accidentally spends almost 2 weeks in German refugee camp

A Chinese tourist's German vacation went from bad to worse when his wallet was stolen and he wound up spending nearly two weeks in a refugee camp.

The 31-year-old from Beijing, known as "Mr. L," was robbed in Heidelberg, and went to file a police report. Instead of going to the police station, however, he ended up at city hall, where he mistakenly signed an application for asylum. Mr. L, who speaks only Mandarin, was taken 220 miles to a Red Cross refugee camp in Dülman. There, he was given the standard items refugees receive: food and spending money.

Christoph Schluetermann, head of the refugee camp, told Reuters there was something unusual about Mr. L. He was dressed well, and kept asking for his passport back. Since he was unable to speak German, English, or any other language besides Mandarin, attempts to communicate with him were futile. Finally, he was brought to a local Chinese restaurant, where the truth came out. "He spent 12 days trapped in our bureaucratic jungle because we couldn't communicate," Schluetermann said. "Germany is unfortunately an extremely bureaucratic country. Especially during the refugee crisis, I've seen how much red tape we have." Mr. L was thrilled to finally leave the camp, Schluetermann added, but he wasn't angry about having to spend a good chunk of his summer vacation confined to a refugee camp.

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