New Delhi, September 2025 – In a decisive move, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has suspended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of India Rural Evangelical Fellowship (IREF), one of Andhra Pradesh’s oldest and largest church-linked NGOs. The action, initiated on 22 August 2025 following a detailed complaint by the Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), marks a major blow to what investigators have described as India’s most sophisticated “conversion-for-funds” racket.
From Charity to Conversion
Founded in 1972 and registered under the Societies Registration Act, IREF presented itself as a benevolent charity headquartered in Repalle, Bapatla district in Andhra Pradesh. Its programs claimed to provide education, hostels for children, evangelism, and Christian literature distribution. Self-reportedly, the organisation worked to “promote the Gospel message of Christianity” across Andhra Pradesh.
Between 2019 and 2024, IREF received Rs 28.6 crore from its U.S. and U.K. branches, both controlled by the same family-led leadership under Emmanuel Rebba. Funds meant for welfare were siphoned off into personal accounts, a clear violation of FCRA rules. This was not charity, it was a financial empire built on exploiting poverty and religious faith.
Exploiting Children and Families
Alongside this, miracle-healing narratives were circulated to attract fresh converts. Parents who resisted these efforts were often portrayed as barriers to salvation, creating tension within communities. As a result, villages across Guntur, Krishna, Bapatla, Prakasam, and West Godavari districts experienced deep social fractures and mounting cultural disruption.
As per reports, between 2016 and 2020, IREF’s schools and hostels witnessed a steady escalation of coercive baptisms, 50 students in 2016, 72 in 2017, and by 2020, hundreds more
were converted through mass events. Photographs of these children were then circulated abroad, often misrepresented as “orphans” to tug at donor sympathy and secure fresh funding. Parents who resisted the indoctrination of their children were branded as obstacles to “salvation”.
According to sources, IREF’s outreach abroad was carefully orchestrated. Its foreign affiliates regularly circulate newsletters describing India as a land of persecution, cast Hindu traditions in a negative light, and projected Christianity as the sole path to salvation.
Each reported conversion was showcased overseas as a miraculous breakthrough, while ordinary village prayer meetings were reframed as proof of religious oppression. Investigators noted that what appeared as spiritual testimony for donors translated into steady financial inflows for IREF.
At the same time, Emmanuel Rebba, who led the organisation, was said to have aligned with the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party, with allegations that NGO funds were diverted for political mobilisation. Officials also flagged repeated instances where foreign missionaries, arriving on tourist visas, were allowed to preach, baptise, and evangelise in contravention of Indian law.
In June 2020, the Hyderabad-based Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF) lodged a detailed complaint with the MHA, supported by documentary and multimedia evidence. The dossier highlighted coercive conversions of minors, misuse of children’s photographs in overseas fundraising, visa violations by foreign missionaries, and the political misuse of NGO resources.
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