they were technically convicts from governments point of view This isn't entirely true. The work camps were powered by convicts, but also by putatively free ex

they were technically convicts from governments point of view This isn't entirely true. The work camps were powered by convicts, but also by putatively free exiles who had been sent there for a variety of reasons. And in some cases, convicts who had completed their sentences were technically freed, but not allowed to leave the camps anyway. Source: I'm currently reading "Gulag: A History" by Anne Applebaum. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224379.Gulag https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224379.Gulag