In October of 1962, at the height of the Sino-India border conflict, the Indian government arrested and interned nearly 3,000 Chinese-Indian and Tibetan-Indian people under the justification that it was a national security measure. Chinese-Indians, many from the border region, were imprisoned and later taken to Deoli Camp, a detention camp that had been established under British colonial rule. While many Chinese-Indians had been living in India for generations, some of them even citizens, anti-Chinese laws, sentiments, and rhetoric were widespread.

 

While the internment lasted until 1966 for most internees, the continued anti-Chinese sentiment has had a lasting impact on the Chinese-Indian community. After internment, property was either seized or marked as "Enemy Property", travel restrictions kept families separated and confined to specific locales, and many were forced to maintain and purchase residency permits to continue living in their home country.

 

Deoli left survivors silently questioning national identity, citizenship, and belonging for nearly fifty years. Though many survivors managed to migrate to Canada, the US, Australia, China, and other countries, there is still a large population of Chinese-Indians that remains legally unprotected in India, which is a primary reason for why survivors did not speak publicly about Deoli for nearly five decades.

 

The Association of India Deoli Camp Internees 1962 was formally established in 2010 with the mission to bring justice to this event through educating and raising awareness about the internment camp and the traumatic effects of incarceration, appealing to the Indian government for a formal apology and acknowledgment of the internment, and creating a community for camp survivors and their friends and family.