Sri Lanka's crackdown shatters the "Island Gold Rush Dream": From a holiday paradise to a deportation flight cabin, separated only by a visa.

Recently, Sri Lanka has launched a large-scale crackdown on illegal employment, with hundreds of Chinese "dog pushers" arrested and deported during raids, revealing the harsh reality of a coordinated crackdown in Southeast Asia.

Not long ago, many Chinese social media channels were still portraying Sri Lanka as a "land of new opportunities"—with lenient visa policies, low cost of living, and the chance to work while enjoying the tropical island scenery. However, the reality is colder than imagined. Since June 2025, the local government has initiated strict law enforcement, focusing on cracking down on violations such as working with tourist visas, affiliating with shell companies, and forging labor contracts. From July to early August alone, hundreds have been arrested and deported, and many intermediaries have disappeared after the tightening of regulations, leaving participants in a dire situation with both financial and personal losses.

Raids often take place at night or during commutes, with some being taken directly from work sites, and others from their rental homes in the early morning without even having time to pack their luggage. Those intermediaries who had once confidently promised to "handle everything" have now vanished, leaving only frozen accounts, confiscated passports, and cold deportation numbers for those affected.

This crackdown is not a spontaneous action but a systematic operation long planned by the Sri Lankan government. Since the beginning of the year, relevant agencies have been conducting data analysis and list screening specifically targeting certain groups, with particular tightening of control over the Chinese community. The government has clearly stated that this will become a long-term mechanism, with enforcement frequency only expected to increase, not decrease.

Looking at South Asia and Southeast Asia, the low-threshold "gold rush" routes are being blocked one by one:

Cambodia has drastically reduced visa quotas after cracking down on telecommunications fraud;

The Philippines is comprehensively regulating intermediaries and online platforms;

The borders of Myanmar and Laos are increasingly tightening, with rising risks;

And now, Sri Lanka is no longer the safe harbor that could "turn a blind eye."

The "going overseas for gold" model, which survived on information gaps, is being destroyed by reality one by one.