President Clinton last night decided to reopen a refugee processing facility at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to handle fast-increasing numbers of seaborne refugees from Haiti, officials said.

Clinton made the decision after two sessions of his senior policy advisers concluded the rush of Haitian refugees seeking political asylum in the United States could exceed the capacity of shipboard facilities now in place to process them.

"The president decided we are going to do this until we can determine whether the numbers of refugees of the last few days are a spike or a wave," a senior official said.

Yesterday Clinton appealed to Haitians to stay in their country, but White House officials said they have no confidence the numbers of people fleeing Haiti's military dictatorship will subside.

The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted 1,486 Haitians at sea Monday, and more than 700 over the weekend. Large numbers of boats were spotted in the water yesterday, officials said.

The Bush administration had used the Guantanamo Bay base on Cuba's eastern end as a refugee center in 1991 and 1992. At one point, nearly 13,000 Haitians were housed there, until then-President George Bush began a policy of forcibly returning Haitians to their homeland.

Clinton said at the White House that the "significant increase in refugees" was possibly due to intensified political repression in Haiti, and possibly to the recent tightening of economic sanctions against the country.

"We are examining what our options are there," he said.

Another factor spurring the exodus has been the U.S. policy shift in May to allow Haitian refugees to be interviewed on shipboard -- a change that has somewhat increased the likelihood they would be allowed to enter the United States. Previously, refugees intercepted at sea were automatically sent back to Haiti to be processed at U.S. centers there.

Since the new policy took effect, administration officials have labored to persuade Haitians to remain in Haiti and apply for U.S. visas at the American centers inside the country. Yesterday Clinton tried a direct appeal.

"I would note that the safest and best thing for the Haitians to do is to apply at the in-country processing center. The rate of approval there has gone up as well, and that is the safest and best route to the United States. And I would hope that more Haitians would use it," said Clinton, speaking to reporters during an appearance with Chilean President Eduardo Frei.

Clinton's statement underlined a disagreement the administration has with Haiti's exiled, elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who has refused administration requests to urge Haitians to stay home. Administration officials had pressed Aristide to make such appeals on broadcasts on a U.S.-funded radio station scheduled to begin operations next week.

Yesterday, during an appearance at the National Press Club, Aristide described Haiti as a "house on fire" and said, "I cannot ask people to stay."

He added he also would not encourage them to flee, because the trips by sea are dangerous. Clinton has pledged to return Aristide to power in Haiti and oust military leaders who overthrew him in 1991.

The upswing in the Haitian outflow complicates Clinton's refugee policy. The processing of Haitians on ships anchored off Jamaica has become a magnet for boat people eager to flee the repression and poverty of their country. An increase in capacity to process asylum requests might attract more refugees; a refugee flood, if it reached U.S. shores in Florida or elsewhere, would raise concern that Clinton was losing control of U.S. borders.

A senior official said yesterday Clinton's aides are "extraordinarily concerned" that the policy of processing refugees on ships and in third countries would sink under the strain of a sudden, unwanted flood of refugees. Defense Secretary William J. Perry, when asked by a reporter if U.S. policy had triggered the refugee surge, answered, "Well, something has certainly happened to change their attitude."

Clinton shifted his policy in May under pressure from U.S. supporters of Aristide and from Aristide, who called the previous policy of direct return of boat people to the island racist. Last week, Aristide called the new policy of on-board processing a "cynical joke" because a large number of Haitians still were being sent back.

Clinton is depending on economic sanctions, which have been gradually tightened, to drive the military rulers from Haiti and open the way for Aristide's return. His return would stop the flow of boat people, U.S. officials and Aristide supporters say.

Clinton has pointedly declined to rule out invading Haiti if sanctions fail to dislodge the military. Aristide, however, while backing the sanctions, refuses to endorse invasion as a possibility. That makes the threat awkward: How would U.S. soldiers be ordered to put their lives on the line to restore to power a president who argues the invasion would be illegal, in contravention of the Haitian constitution?

Special envoy to Haiti William H. Gray III told a Senate subcommittee hearing that a half-dozen countries may be willing to set up processing centers for Haitians and accept some refugees, and that other nations are considering accepting refugees. However, Gray gave no names of countries or numbers they would be willing to accept.

Gray declined to say how much the Aristide radio broadcasts to Haiti will cost. Aristide will deliver his "message of reconciliation," Gray said.

Guantanamo Bay would be a relatively convenient site for processing refugees. It is already designated as the site where Haitians who were screened off Jamaica and allowed entry into the United States are to remain while their destinations are determined, officials said.

In recent days, a Navy construction battalion has been building a tent city that could temporarily house up to 2,500 additional people, bringing Guantanamo Bay's refugee capacity up to 4,000. If additional temporary housing is installed, the base's capacity could rise to about 12,500.

The United States began interviewing Haitians for processing aboard a ship off Jamaica on June 16, and another ship has been leased for that purpose and is en route. In addition, a processing center is being set up on Grand Turk Island north of Haiti but will not be in operation for a week to 10 days, a senior official said.

The Grand Turk operation could handle about 2,000 refugees, a White House official said, but if Haitians appear in numbers anywhere approaching the past two days, it and the boats could quickly overflow, officials said.

Pentagon spokeswoman Kathleen deLaski said three processing ships off Haiti have granted political asylum to 165 refugees since shipboard processing began on June 16, and 398 have been returned to Haiti.

Coast Guard cutters yesterday continued plucking Haitians from their rickety boats. Meanwhile, Coast Guard officials said they were considering how to reinforce their 15-ship flotilla off Haiti's coast.

"We're looking at what's available, but to be frank, there's not a lot left in terms of ships we can send," said Lt. Cmdr. Jim Howe, Coast Guard spokesman in Miami. "Most of our big ships from the East Coast are down there already, but we're looking at numbers and we'll move the ships we have to."

Coast Guard helicopter pilots yesterday reported spotting around 30 boats carrying a total of 900 Haitians who appeared to have embarked from the southern coastal town of Cap Dame Marie.

Staff writers John F. Harris in Washington and Jason Vest in Guantanamo Bay contributed to this report.