Rohingya of Malaysia (PGID: PG049352)

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.

Pray Now!

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:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Rohingya:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
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

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!
Psalm 30:10

Pray that people in the depths of despair and suffering and living outside of relationship with Christ will cry out to the Lord and find help, peace, and joy in Him.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
Galatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 5:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grasp the profound mystery of Christ's love for the Church, reflecting this love in their marriages.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
Ephesians 6:18b-19

Ask God to give believers He sends to the lost of this people group the boldness and clarity to proclaim the mystery of the gospel in a way that people can understand.

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

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

5 people groups

People Group ID	Name	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index	Language ▼	Religion
PG049351	Rohingya	Bangladesh	908,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Rohingya	Sunni Islam
PG049352	Rohingya	Malaysia	48,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Rohingya	Sunni Islam
PG050359	Rohingya	United States	13,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Rohingya	Sunni Islam
PG050625	Rohingya	Saudi Arabia	438,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Rohingya	Sunni Islam
PG022052	Rohingya	Myanmar	636,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Bengali	Sunni Islam

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

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