Chinese Tourist Loses His Wallet in Germany, Accidentally Becomes a Refugee

August 8, 2016

A 31-year-old Chinese tourist ended up as a refugee after losing his wallet in southern Germany.

According to The Local, the mishap began in the city of Heidelberg where the man noticed his missing wallet.

But instead of reporting it at a police station, the Beijing native mistakenly signed up for an asylum application.

Without knowing what just happened, authorities ran through the process and took the man’s passport. They gave him refugee documents shortly.

Later, the tourist found himself spending more than a week at a refugee home in Dülmen, WDR said. He went through medical check and received pocket money. The error was put to an end thanks to Christoph Schlütermann, who works for the German Red Cross.

At first sight, Schlütermann felt that the smartly-dressed man did not fit the looks of an asylum seeker. Curious, he went to a local Chinese restaurant, where he was advised to use a translation app.

Schlütermann eventually found that the “refugee” was not looking for asylum. Instead, the poor foreigner simply wanted to visit Italy and France.

The asylum application was ultimately cancelled, and the tourist set off to continue his travel. No complaints have been filed against German authorities.

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