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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Rohingya of Bangladesh

The Rohingya of Bangladesh, numbering approximately 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 an Diaspora people, in the Bengali people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Rohingya.

Rohingya in Bangladesh photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: digital.democracy - Flickr digital.democracy - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Bangladesh
People Cluster: Bengali
Primary Language(s): Rohingya (rhg)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 908,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049351

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Pray for the Rohingya of Bangladesh

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rohingya
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Rohingya Speakers

Media Resources in Rohingya:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Rohingya:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rohingya bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Rohingya

The Rohingya are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Rohingya

The Rohingya are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

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

Next steps for the Rohingya

The Rohingya are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Rohingya of Bangladesh

Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:22

Pray for many lost people to turn to the Lord, finding forgiveness and salvation in Him, for He is the only way to true life and restoration.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
readPsalm 3:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and experience isolation or other persecution, God will sustain them and give them confidence and rest in Him.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Rohingya reported in the following countries (ROP3):

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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