Some Chinese laborers were sent packing once their contracts were up. Chinese workers in the then British colony of South Africa, for example, struck in protest at their low pay and were all sent back to China after a government inspector found them "inefficient." But most Chinese workers stayed on after their contracts expired and became part of the ethnic Chinese community in their new home.
華工於合約期滿後，有些被遣送回國，例如曾在英國殖民地南非採金的華工，由於與管理階層的溝通出了差錯，而以罷工等方式抗議待遇不合理，結果引起英國政府關切，甚至派出人員調查，結果以「效果不佳」而全被遣送回國。