Humanitarian· Caribbean Operations (Cuba + Haiti)
Op SAFE HAVEN
Operation Safe Haven was the mission to handle Cuban migrants during the rafter crisis, when large numbers fleeing Cuba by sea were intercepted and sheltered, with many housed at Guantanamo Bay and at sites beyond.
Marines took part in the effort to receive, secure, and care for the Cuban migrants, managing the camps and maintaining order among a population held in uncertain conditions while their disposition was worked out. Like the parallel Haitian operations, Safe Haven was a humanitarian and constabulary task rather than a combat mission, demanding restraint and organization in dealing with frustrated people in prolonged limbo. The operation was part of the broader Caribbean migrant effort that occupied the Marines during the migration crises of the mid-1990s. Safe Haven reflected the Corps' role in responding to the regional upheavals of the era, providing the manpower and discipline to manage a large and sensitive humanitarian emergency at sea and in the camps.
Record no. 806