Does being an unperson mean you're dead?

[Extrocomp]

Does becoming an unperson necessarily mean that the person is dead? Winston seems to imply this but I'm not certain because the word "dead" is not always meant literally in the book. Winston doesn't know if his mother is alive or dead and acknowledges the possibility that she might've been sent to a forced-labour camp. It's never mentioned whether she was an unperson or not? Winston also mentions that people who have been arrested sometimes are released temporarily and then arrested again. I don't know if this situation applies to people who have become unpersons. It would be very strange if a person who wasn't supposed to exist was seen in a public place even just to confess their crimes against the Party. Syme became an unperson just days after disappearing but Winston and Julia were held in the Ministry of Love for months before being temporarily released. Were they unpersons or not? At one point Winston thinks that he might be sent to a forced-labour camp even though O'Brien tells him he will be shot. Can an unperson be sent to a camp?

Syme is an unperson. Does that necessarily mean he's dead? What do you think he might've done?

[ShakeYourSpear]

Well, if you remember what Syme was like and what Julia and Winston are like, this answer should seem rather obvious.
Syme, like Parsons loves The Party and Big Brother. Syme was likely arrested because he was too intelligent and was perceived as a potential threat. He may also have "slipped up" like Parsons had, without actually being a thought-criminal in his conscious mind.
Syme was probably "cured" (if infact he had to be) very quickly and then killed, or he was killed right away.
An unperson doesn't mean the person is dead. It means that they have never existed, and all records of them existing are destroyed.
If his mother is an unperson, that means that she is dead, as well as never existing, therefore it would be quite difficult for Winston or anyone else to find out whether she is alive or dead, or even an unperson.

Winston could look and look through records (for he has no idea where his mother may be), and not find any information about his mother. Though, he cannot possibly look through ALL of the records, and would never be able to be aware of her state of being. If he were to look through many records, and then give up, who is to say that she is not in another record somewhere else?
Winston and Julia would have only become unpersons once they are executed. You must be dead to become an unperson, though not all people who are dead are unpersons.

A rock cannot live, or die, therefore it is nothing.
A dog can live and die. When it dies, it is said to be dead, but a rock is never dead.
(I know, thats a pretty bad analogy, but it somewhat makes sense)

[The Atheist]

Not quite right.

"Unperson" status is clearly conferred in the Ministry of Truth. O'Brien tells W at one point that "You do not exist".