Those who could not travel to WYD because they were not granted a visa in time will receive a refund of their registration fee, WYD speaker Matthias Kopp said today. He added they were trying  to help the around 700 filippinos were refused to travel by the German Foreign Ministry to get the visa. But it remained unclear what a visa at that late moment could be good for. 

Solche Pilger, die nicht zum Weltjugendtag reisen konnten, weil sie kein Visum bekamen, erhalten ihre Anmeldegebühren von der Weltjugendtags-gGmbH erstattet, sagte WJT-Sprecher Matthias Kopp heute auf Anfrage von pulitzer.de.  Er fügte hinzu, man bemühe sich immer noch darum, dass die 700 Pilger von den Philippinen noch ein Visum erhalten können. Es blieb aber unklar, was dies den Philippinern zu diesem späten Zeitpunkt noch nützen könnte.

In recent days pulitzer.de has received e-mails from disappointed Filippinos asking whether they would get their money back 

It is unlikely that many from Manila would still come even if the decision about their would be reversed. Many had disappointedly withdrawn their passports from the German embassy in Manila after their remonstrations (appeals) were not accepted in time to use their tickets.