Chinese tourist mistaken for refugee and held for two weeks in Germany

A Chinese tourist was mistaken for a refugee and held in a German refugee centre for nearly two weeks.

The 31-year-old, who spoke neither German nor English, arrived at Stuttgart airport in south-western Germany on 4 July and sought help from officials after losing his wallet.

But, the Shanghai Daily reports, his request was "lost in translation" and officials mistook him for an asylum-seeker.

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He was taken to a reception centre in Heidelberg, where he unwittingly filled out an asylum request form.

Two days later he was transferred to another centre in Dortmund, where his passport was taken from him, and subsequently moved to another shelter in Duelmen, near the Dutch border.

A spokesman for the German Red Cross said: "He spent 12 days trapped in our bureaucratic jungle because we couldn’t communicate. Germany is unfortunately an extremely bureaucratic country, especially during the refugee crisis. I've seen how much red tape we have."

The man reportedly complied with regular procedures for refugees, including having his fingerprints taken, undergoing a medical examination and accepting pocket money, before officials realised something was amiss.

Noticing the tourist was unusually well-dressed for a refugee, they sought help at a local Chinese restaurant, where the owners suggested using a Mandarin smartphone translation app to communicate.

"I want to go walking in a foreign country," one of the tourist's translated messages said. He was eventually allowed to set off for his travels in France and Italy.

The man reportedly told German public broadcaster WDR: "This isn't how I imagined Europe."