A domestic think tank says North Korea since 2000 has eased punishment on repatriated escapees who lived near the Chinese border.

In a report on the North's human rights, the Korea Institute for National Unification said Tuesday that nearly no repatriated defectors since 2000 have gone to concentration camps, with most sentenced to one to six months of hard labor.

The report, however, said pregnant women through 2004 were forced to get an abortion after grilling at state offices near the border.

The institute said it based the report on interviews with North Korean defectors and records from international agencies.