Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Rohingya of Malaysia

The Rohingya of Malaysia, numbering approximately 48,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as 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 Diaspora people, with Rohingya as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bengali people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Rohingya is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Rohingya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Bengali
Primary Language(s): Rohingya (rhg)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 48,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049352
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Pray for the Rohingya of Malaysia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rohingya
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Rohingya Speakers

Media Resources in Rohingya:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Rohingya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
RCA – 2020 (John), 2021 (Luke)✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rohingya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

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.

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

Pray specifically for the Rohingya of Malaysia

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
readActs 4:12

Pray that those walking in darkness among them will come to know the name by which they must be saved, and call upon Him in faith.

Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
readExodus 33:18-19

Pray that many will come to know the glory of God, which is revealed in Jesus Christ, and that they will rejoice in the mercy He offers them.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
readGalatians 3:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be united in Christ across all differences of ethnicity, social status, and gender.

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
readPsalm 105:2

Pray for God to saturate this place with the gospel and raise up believing men and women from among them to share the good news of Christ with those who have yet to encounter it.

Rohingya Across Countries (ROP3 - 102170) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
RohingyaPG049351RohingyaBangladesh908,000Engaged yet UnreachedRohingyaSunni Islam
RohingyaPG022052RohingyaMyanmar636,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
RohingyaPG050625RohingyaSaudi Arabia438,000Unengaged and UnreachedRohingyaSunni Islam
RohingyaPG049352RohingyaMalaysia48,500Engaged yet UnreachedRohingyaSunni Islam
RohingyaPG050359RohingyaUnited States13,000Engaged yet UnreachedRohingyaSunni Islam

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 Data Standards section.

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