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People group profile · PG049351

The Rohingya of Bangladesh

The Rohingya of Bangladesh, numbering about 908,000 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, with a large number of refugees fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.

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

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 3.1 Flash Lite: Rohingya

Fast facts

Country
Bangladesh
Population
908,000
Affinity group
South Asian Peoples
People cluster
Bengali
Primary language
Rohingya (rhg)
Primary religion
Sunni Islam
Strategic Progress Index
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC
Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
Lostness priority
Frontier Unreached People Group
Region
Southern 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 but there has been dispersed church planting among them within the past two years.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years Dispersed Church Planting

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

Rohingya · Indo-European family

100% speak Rohingya

Gospel resources in Rohingya

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

Films

Bibles

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

Pray for the Rohingya

  1. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
  2. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
  3. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
  4. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.

Download a prayer guide

Rohingya in other countries

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

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
RohingyaMyanmar636,000Engaged yet Unreached
RohingyaSaudi Arabia438,000Unengaged and Unreached
RohingyaMalaysia48,500Engaged yet Unreached
RohingyaUnited States13,000Engaged yet Unreached

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