- Refugees being arrested for as long or longer than they stayed in China
- Those who stayed in China for 4 years to be sentenced longer than that
- Tough penalties to prevent North Koreans from escaping

¡°Repatriated North Korean refugees are in jail for extended periods,¡± said the Hamgyeongbuk-do Hweryung-gun Source, released at the end of last year from Jeongur-ri re-education center, a prison only for North Korean refugees. ¡°Refugees with just financial purposes used to be sentenced to less than 3 years but when I first went to the re-education center in spring 2009, my jail term was extended to as many years as I stayed in China.¡±

For instance, refugees who stayed in China for more than 4 years used to be sentenced to 4 years. However, the penalties for North Korean refugees were toughened and by the time he was released at the end of 2009, jail terms of those who were newly arrested was extended to longer than the period they stayed in China. Therefore, refugees who could have been released in less than 3 years in 2008 are now sentenced to 6 to 7 years.

Periods that North Korean refugees stay in China varies from person to person. Some people stay for more than 5 years, whereas some stay for just a few months for business. However they receive toughened penalties when they are repatriated now.

It is considered the purpose of the North Korean government to prevent further escapes with tougher penalties, regarding the article about increases in the number of national security agents in China sent to repatriate North Korean refugees.

The source finally says that during the year he was in Jeongur-ri re-education center there were 4000 men and 3000 women out of 7000 in total, and 60% of them were the refugees repatriated to North Korea.