Haitian Hearings to Be Held at Sea : Refugees: Clinton says he recognizes the ‘valid fears’ of asylum seekers who now are returned to their chaotic homeland. He also appoints a new adviser on Haiti.

Under intense pressure from activists charging that his policy is endangering the lives of thousands of Haitians, President Clinton confirmed Sunday that he will soon begin providing offshore hearings for refugees seeking political asylum in the United States.

Currently, those intercepted at sea are returned to Haiti for interviews and processing of their claims to political asylum. Often, they are met at the docks by Haitian authorities.

“In recent months, however, I have become increasingly concerned that Haiti’s declining human rights situation may endanger the safety of those who have valid fears of political persecution,” Clinton said during a news conference at the White House.

The President also announced the appointment of United Negro College Fund President William H. Gray III to be his special adviser on Haiti.

He lauded Gray, a former Pennsylvania congressman and member of the House Democratic leadership, as “a man of vision and determination, of real strength and real creativity.” He said Gray will be the Administration’s “point man” in diplomatic efforts and be heavily involved in its policy deliberations.

Gray replaces veteran Ambassador Lawrence Pezzullo, who was forced out after being viewed as too closely linked to a failed U.S. effort to pressure exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into a compromise with the military regime.

The President’s announcement came just days after the Administration persuaded the United Nations to toughen its economic embargo against Haiti in its drive to force the military government from power.

Clinton conceded that his new policy on refugees will mean that more Haitians will be allowed into this country but insisted that it will not produce a flood of refugees.

“As violence has increased, we wanted to make sure that people who are fleeing on boats have an opportunity to assert those claims outside of Haiti before they are taken back and turned over to Haitian authorities,” Deputy National Security Adviser Samuel (Sandy) Berger said.

Amnesty International reported last week that 139 of 904 Haitians forcibly returned since the start of this year had been arrested.

Other studies have said at least 3,000 Haitians have been killed in politically related violence since Aristide was overthrown in September, 1991.

Berger, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said the only solution is for Haiti’s military leaders to step down and allow Aristide to return to power.

Berger said the decision on how to deal with refugees will affect only a “small group” of Haitians: those who are fleeing political persecution rather than merely seeking economic betterment.

“About 95% of the people coming in are not political refugees,” he said. “I don’t think the numbers are going to be overwhelming.”

He said the federal government will try to spread any refugees admitted among several states so that Florida does not bear the entire burden.

“We do not want to encourage people to leave on boats. We will continue in-country processing,” he said.

Berger said the economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations last week are “the toughest sanctions ever imposed in this hemisphere.”

He said the United States will work with the Dominican Republic, which shares Haiti’s only land border, to “do our very best to seal that border.”

As for military intervention, Berger said the Administration wants to try to push the military regime out through economic sanctions first.

Randall Robinson, head of the TransAfrica lobbying group, said Sunday he is ending a 27-day hunger strike after National Security Adviser Anthony Lake told him by telephone of the new policy.

“I will end my hunger strike today,” Robinson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

He commended Clinton for reversing the policy of forcible return.

“With it, we have saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. I think it is an important step, and the President deserves praise for it,” Robinson said.

Haitian military leader Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, also interviewed on “Meet the Press,” called for new negotiations.

“I want to believe that people will get back to their senses and will think that on our side we have always favored dialogue since the beginning of the crisis,” he said through an interpreter. “The sanctions are not a policy.”

Berger said the Administration had attempted negotiations for 14 months and concluded that Cedras was not serious.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who was arrested while protesting outside the White House on Thursday, said on “Meet the Press”: “I’m very pleased that the President has changed his policy.