Humanitarian· Caribbean Operations (Cuba + Haiti)
Op CLEAN SWEEP
Operation Clean Sweep was an action within the Guantanamo migrant-camp operations, a Marine effort to search the camps and restore control, likely following disturbances among the population.
The operation involved systematically clearing or searching the camp areas, removing contraband or improvised weapons, and reasserting order among the Haitian migrants held at the base. It was part of the constabulary dimension of the camp mission, the harder-edged work of maintaining security and control when unrest or the accumulation of makeshift weapons threatened the safety of the camps. Clean Sweep reflected the need to balance the humanitarian care of the migrants with the security measures required to keep order in a large and sometimes volatile population. The operation was one of the named actions within the broader Guantanamo effort, an episode in the demanding task of managing the migrant camps, a mission that called for organization, discipline, and restraint rather than combat against an enemy.
Record no. 811