European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday august21, 1994 cuban refugees the stars and stripes Page 5 influx set . Policy on new course by Robert Burns the associated press Washington the refugee crisis in the Caribbean which began in june with Waves of haitian boat people has grown far More complicated and politically potent with the sudden exodus to Florida of thousands of cubans. Here Are some questions and answers to help explain the crisis Why not just let the cubans in Ait has been . Practice for nearly three decades to do just that but the numbers were relatively Small except forthe Mariel boat lift of 1980, during which 125,000 cubans reached . Shores in five month period. President Clinton said Friday that he is shifting policy because this month s exodus amounts to an at tempt by Fidel Castro to Export his Trou Bles to this country. Also Florida gov. Lawton Chiles declared a state of emergency and asked for Federal help. Q what s going to happen to the cuban refugees now a Clinton said those picked up at sea by . Coast guard or Navy ships will be taken to the . Navy base a Guantanamo Bay which happens to be situated on cuban soil near the South Eastern tip of the Island. Immediately after the change in . Policy was announced thursday night hundreds of newly arrived cuban refugees in Florid were taken to a detention Center in Miami. Those who Are detained will have their cases reviewed for eligibility for Asylum. Q Why was the cuban immigrant policy so Liberal for so Long a because it was born during the cold War. In name it is the 1966 cuban adjustment act which made it possible for illegal immigrants from Cuba not to be returned to the communist nation. The were Given special immigration opportunities because their escape represented a kind of propaganda Victory for washing ton. But that was in the Days when Cuba was a client state of the former soviet Union and considered a serious National Security threat to the United states. Q will the fleeing cubans now be treated the same As haitian refugees a attorney general Janet re Rio said Friday that the two groups of refugees will be treated the same in the sense that the . Government s aim is to assure their safety. Officials said cubans picked up at sea and taken to Guantanamo Bay will not be considered for political Asylum in the United states they will be kept there until arrangements Are made to Send them to third countries in the re Gion. The cubans other option would be to return Home voluntarily. Haitians taken to Guantanamo since june have not been eligible for entry to the United states. At the moment their Only option is to stay indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay or return Home. There Are about 14,700 haitians now at Guantanamo. Q Why Are cubans and haitians so anxious to get out of their countries a the haitians Are escaping both eco nomic misery and political repression under the military regime of it.  Cidras who took control after elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide was ousted in september 1991. In the Case of Cuba people in Home made rafts and Leaky boats have been making the perilous 90-mile crossing to Florida in growing numbers since aug. 5,when Castro threatened another Mariel scale exodus after the worst rioting of his 35-year Rule. Q can t cubans and haitians gain Legal entry to the United states any other  yes cubans can apply for Asylum while still inside Cuba As can haitians in Haiti. Reno said nearly 3,000 cubans year win Asylum this Way. Haitians have done it this Way too but at the moment there Are hundreds in Haiti approved for entry to America who cannot leave be cause Cidras won t allow it. Q. Where will the cubans be kept at Guantanamo Bay a the Pentagon said plans Call for setting up two tent cities for the cuban with a capacity of 10,000 people. They will be held in an area on the base several Miles from the unused Airfield where the haitians Are. Families Hunt for relatives As Gates close key West Fla. A Jack Canalejo searched for his cousins in key West and Miami but found no news of the two Young men who left Cuba two Days ear Lier on a raft. I m scared that they re not going to make it Canalejo said Friday waiting outside the Gates of a Feder Al detention Center where 322 cubans including 53 children were being held. The detainees were among the few who got into the United states after president Clinton announced that cuban refugees would no longer receive preferential treatment and would have to apply for political Asylum like everyone else. Yellow school buses took them Friday from key West where thousands of cuban boat people have arrived this year after making the perilous 90-mile sea crossing to the Krome detention Center West of Miami. They will be housed in Olive drab Canvas tents that workers began erecting Friday. With the tents the Center will be Able to hold 1,000 people or More these cubans have been through so much Canalejo said. They risk their lives for Freedom and now they re going to be detained if the cubans had arrived a Day earlier they might have been released after Only cursory interviews. Instead families waited outside Chain link fences topped by barbed wire hoping to hear their relatives names on a list read by immigration officials. We re very Happy and excited said 7-year-old Beatriz Comesanas upon learning that her Grandfather and 10 other relatives were in Krome. She will be Able to visit them for about seven hours a Day beginning today. At a privately run refugee Center near key West tearful but Happy reunions and sorrowful tales continued until Joel Lasarte of Havana is reunited alter 11 years with his brother Felipe Back to the camera at the cuban refugee cent Erin key West Fla., on thursday. The coast guard picked up Joel Lasarte with 49 other refugees off Florida. Late thursday night As the coast guard released 300 to 400 cubans each Day before the change in policy. Among the last arrivals were three Brothers who had not seen their father since he fled to the United states in the Mariel boat lift 14 years ago. V. All three picked up by the coast guard from an inner tube raft tried to hug their father at the same time. Papa papa of god it s so Good to see you said Miguel Boza 29. An aunt fainted while embracing her nephews -. " Castro from Page 1 with Chiles whose state has been a mag. Net for a recent outpouring of haitian As Well As cuban refugees. Chiles said in a statement that Clin ton s policy of denying cubans entry into the United states while granting them havens elsewhere will save cuban lives and Lessen the Impact of this crisis on the people of Florida Chiles was accompanied to the White House meeting by several cuban Ameri can leaders. He said they exchanged views with Clinton and were returning for a second session saturday after taking an Opportunity to do a Little thinking about it."".,-. Under a policy shift announced Friday cuban refugees picked up at sea Are being held at the . Naval base at quanta1 Namo Bay in Cuba and those who reach . Soil Are being taken to an immigration detention Center West of Miami. The administration is looking for havens in other countries to House those initially taken to Guantanamo. Pentagon officials said the coast guard will take the Lead in setting up a picket line to intercept cubans at sea who would then be shuttled to the naval base ".,. Attorney general Janet Reno said the moves were designed to keep Castro from opening the floodgates and using a wave of illegal immigration As a safety valve to defuse unrest in his country. But she refused to say How Long the refugees would be held or what their ultimate Fate would be. We will address those issues Down the line she said. Clinton said the shift in policy was Nec Essary to avoid a repeat of the 1980 Mari Al boat lift that brought 125,000 cubans to America including criminals and the mentally ill. Francisco Hernandez president of the powerful anti Castro lobbying group the cuban american National foundation said saturday morning on Abc s today show that Clinton s action is not a Desir Able one but we believe that it s Nec Essary to bring Down Castro by the single action of calling Castro s Bluff or. Clinton May have saved 10 or 15 thousand cuban lives Hernandez said Friday on can