Slavery in Almaty: How a Private School Turns Teachers into Commodities

Мақаланы қазақша мына жерден оқыңыз. Читать статью на русском здесь.

The story of Trishani Perera, a Sri Lankan citizen and former English teacher at the Sunbridge school, is not merely a private labor dispute, but a festering systemic sore where the "investment climate" is transformed into a mechanism for legalized exploitation.

Trishani was recruited to work in Almaty from Dubai, with the administration promising contract terms that included a visa, housing, and a return ticket home—promises that, in reality, became tools of coercion. School management not only retained the employee’s passport for an extended period under the pretext of processing documents but also systematically refused to provide her with a copy of her employment contract, forcing her to involve the police just to access the documents defining her legal status.

The situation reached a breaking point when the school announced it was closing. Instead of fulfilling contractual obligations, the administration attempted to exert pressure: the employee was forced to vacate her housing on short notice, and when she attempted to claim her rightfully earned wages and assert her rights, she faced aggression from the staff. Instead of receiving her full salary for May, only a portion of the funds was transferred to her account without explanation or consent, and in response to her demands, the school filed a police complaint, accusing her of aggressive behavior.

The most cynical aspect of the case was the discovery of the teacher's true legal status. As revealed during a visit to the migration police, Trishani’s visa had been canceled by the school administration back on May 10, 2026, without her knowledge; she continued to work in complete confidence of her legal status until May 26. Furthermore, the visa was not issued by the school itself, but through a third-party limited liability partnership (LLP) where Trishani was allegedly listed as a deputy director, indicating large-scale fraud involving documentation and visa regulations.

This situation is a direct challenge to state institutions. While the Department of Labor ignores complaints, citing formal technicalities in documentation, businesses are exploiting legal loopholes to turn foreign professionals into hostages. We are witnessing how an employer, by holding an foreigner’s passport and controlling their visa status, gains unlimited power, which is then reinforced by the administrative resource of the police.

We demand the following from the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

An immediate, comprehensive audit of Sunbridge’s operations and of all individuals involved in creating this scheme, investigating potential crimes related to human trafficking, forced labor, and tax fraud. Tax authorities must investigate how payments were made via bank terminals, circumventing official payroll records. We insist on holding the school's leadership accountable for intentionally pushing a foreign citizen into an illegal status for the purpose of blackmail.

It is time to legally restrict the practice wherein a private employer becomes the sole guarantor of an foreigner’s visa status, effectively depriving them of freedom of movement and the ability to defend their labor rights. The case of Trishani Perera requires immediate intervention, as any foreign professional caught in the gears of Almaty’s "business" environment could find themselves in her position today.