Refugees continue to enter China from North Korea. As it tightens control over its population, North Korea counts on cooperation from neighbouring China, where authorities are searching the cities and countryside for as many as 300,000-500,000 refugees who, according to US State Department estimates, have slipped across the border. China regards the North Koreans as illegal immigrants rather than refugees and as North Korea's sole ally of any importance, often sends them back. Power failures in North Korea are increasingly regular and food shortages are worst in rural areas, causing Koreans to flee to China even in the face of strict penalties, ranging from a 10-year labour camp/political prison sentence to public execution. The increased security in North Korea has been reflected in China across the Yalu and Tumen rivers, which constitute the border. The number of Chinese policemen in towns along the borders is said to have increased, and North Korean police have been seen working with the Chinese to round up refugees. There are even reports of refugee detention centres near Yanji, about 30 miles from the border, in the predominantly Korean-Chinese region of Yangbian.
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