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People group profile · PG022052

The Rohingya of Myanmar

The Rohingya of Myanmar, numbering about 636,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Muslim ethnic group indigenous to the Rakhine State of Myanmar that has been denied citizenship there since 1982 and has suffered severe persecution and mass displacement.

They are an indigenous people in the Bengali people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam, and they primarily speak Bengali.

Pray for the RohingyaPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Rohingya people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Rohingya

Fast facts

Country
Myanmar
Population
636,000
Affinity group
South Asian Peoples
People cluster
Bengali
Primary language
Bengali (ben)
Primary religion
Sunni Islam
Strategic Progress Index
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority
Pioneer Unreached People Group
Region
South-Eastern Asia, Asia

Where they live

Gospel status

The Rohingya are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Rohingya

  • Continue prayer and fasting for this group
  • Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
  • Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Primary religion

Sunni Islam · Islam

100% adherents

Primary language

Bengali · Indo-European family

100% speak Bengali

Gospel resources in Bengali

  • Bible available
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories available

Films

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Rohingya

  1. Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.
  2. 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
  3. Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
  4. Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.

Download a prayer guide

Rohingya in other countries

The same people (ROP3 102170) is reported in 4 other countries.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
RohingyaBangladesh908,000Engaged yet Unreached
RohingyaSaudi Arabia438,000Unengaged and Unreached
RohingyaMalaysia48,500Engaged yet Unreached
RohingyaUnited States13,000Engaged yet Unreached

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