Crossroads Asia | Society | Central Asia

Femicide Without Borders: Uzbek Women Abroad Still at Risk

The three horrific murders of Uzbek women in Turkiye shed harsh light on the risks female migrant workers face, usually at the hands of those closest to them. 

In January 2026, within just one day, two Uzbek migrant women were murdered, their bodies dismembered and dumped in garbage containers across Istanbul, Turkiye. Weeks later, another Uzbek woman’s body was found in western Turkiye. In all of these cases, the suspects are Uzbek men, revealing the systemic and multilayered vulnerability of Central Asian female migrant workers abroad. 

Parts of the body of a 37-year-old Uzbek citizen, Durdona Khakimova, were found by a scrap collector in one of the garbage containers in the Duatepe neighborhood on January 24. The head was missing. Khakimova worked at a hunting and sports equipment shop and her two daughters attended a lyceum in Turkiye. 

31-year-old Dilshod Akhrol Ugli Turdimurotov and 29-year-old Gofurjon Akmalkhonoviych Kamalkhodaev, both also Uzbek citizens, were arrested as suspects when they were leaving for Georgia through Istanbul airport. 

The details of Khakimova’s murder case are confusing, differing dramatically between what the suspects claim and what her friends and family believe. 

Turdimurotov reportedly told the investigators that he had been in a romantic relationship with Khakimova and killed her during a fight by stabbing her four times in the back. 

“I stabbed her. Later, my friend and I cut the body into pieces, placed the parts in bags and put them in a suitcase. We took a taxi to Şişli and threw the parts into different trash containers,” he reportedly said.

A 58-year-old Turkish taxi driver, Ekrem K. was also arrested but released under judicial supervision as the police are yet to determine if he had known what the packages contained. 

The romantic relationship and the fight ending in a murder do not seem very believable to Khakimova’s friends and family, let alone the other details of the case. Turkish prosecutors report that the suspects removed jewelry from Khakimova. Khakimova’s close friend, Murat Baskan, took to social media, claiming that Khakimova was helping the two suspects find a job in Turkiye at the request of one of the suspects’ mothers. 

Informal support networks are common among migrant workers, who often rely on one another for job placement, relocation, and navigating life abroad. Khakimova’s husband, Erhan Dursun, does not believe his wife cheated on him. Dursun said that on the day of her murder, his wife went to the suspects’ apartment with her stepson. The boy waited outside while she went in; she never came back out.

“My wife does not cheat on me at all, I believe 100 percent. If she intended to cheat, she would not have gone there with my son,” said Dursun in an interview with local Turkish media.

During the investigation, Khakimova’s friend, 32-year-old Sayyora Ergasheva, another Uzbek migrant woman, was also found to have been killed by the same suspects at the same place, reportedly, half a day before Khakimova.

The body of one more Uzbek migrant woman, Dilafruz Cholliyeva was found on February 28, in the rural Çamdibi neighborhood, Balıkesir. The 46-year-old woman from Samarkand had been missing for over a month and was last seen with an Uzbek citizen named Ilyaz, 44. Because her body was unrecognizable, a DNA test was conducted with samples from her son. Apart from Ilyaz, three other men were arrested. All four are reportedly Uzbek citizens.

These cases highlight the risks Uzbek (and by extension other Central Asian) female migrants face abroad. Exact statistics are hard to track due to the seasonal nature of migrant labor and unofficial employment arrangements. In 2025, 1.3 million Uzbeks were reported to be working abroad. Of them 20 percent were women. The real numbers are likely higher. Most Uzbek labor migrants work in Russia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, and Turkiye. Women labor migrants in Turkiye often engage in caregiving and domestic work. In 2025, over 58,000 Uzbek citizens were living in Turkiye, although how many of them were working is unknown. 

“Many Uzbek women come to Turkiye to work, and first of all they are recognized as workers in domestic services,” said Feruza Shokirova, an activist and lecturer at Antalya Bilim University who is originally from Uzbekistan, in an interview with The Diplomat. “And many [Turkish] people say, ‘An Uzbek works in my home.’ This is not because they look down on them, but because of the large number of Uzbek women working here. And of course, [there are many] Uzbek brides. Uzbek brides have for many years been competing with Syrians for first place.”

Uzbekistan heavily depends on remittances from labor migrants – without these remittances, the poverty rate would increase from the official 9.6 percent to 16.8 percent. Not only do labor migrants sustain themselves, but they often help their immediate and extended family by providing financial support and, frequently, by helping other friends and family finding jobs abroad. In 2017, migrant workers sent $4.9 billion to Uzbekistan, contributing the equivalent of 6.8 percent of the country’s GDP. This number increased to $14.8 billion (12.2 percent of GDP) in 2024. Uzbek female labor migrants reportedly sent about $3 billion home in 2024 alone. 

Tashkent has taken action to protect migrant workers’ rights abroad and diversify destination countries, mostly focusing on European or other developed countries. However, the major destinations remain the same – Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkiye, and South Korea. Europe expects skilled migrants with some fluency in their languages. Visa regulations are strict and getting there undocumented is difficult. Tashkent is pursuing bilateral agreements to organize work arrangements for its citizens in developed countries. In visa-free countries, informal arrangements are more common – labor migrants rely on friends and family for relocation, job hunting, rent,........

© The Diplomat