Dozens of migrants drown near U.S., allied Mediterranean exercise

In a grim irony, more than 50 immigrants drowned when their boat capsized and sank off the coast of Tunisia on Monday just as the U.S. and several other countries in the region were starting a maritime exercise designed in part to test their ability to respond to mass migration and illicit trafficking.

The boat containing the immigrants departed from Libya on Sunday. They are believed to have been from Bangladesh, said Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the U.N. migration agency. At least 30 other people on the boat were rescued by Tunisian naval vessels, U.N. officials said.

It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday whether any U.S. Navy personnel taking part in the exercise, called Phoenix Express, were in a position to render assistance to the capsized vessel. Libya is a major gateway for migrants seeking to get into the European Union. According to the Missing Migrants website, more than 680 drowned this year — the largest number since 2017 when 1,523 migrants lost their lives.

Phoenix Express 2021 kicked off at La Goulette naval base in Tunis, Tunisia. In addition to the U.S., countries taking part in the exercise include Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Spain and several others. The drill will run through May 28 to increase regional cooperation and enhance efforts to promote safety and security in the Mediterranean Sea and the territorial waters of the participating North African countries, Navy officials said.

The at-sea portion of the exercise is designed to test how navies from North Africa, Europe — along with the U.S. Navy — respond to “irregular migration and to combat illicit trafficking and the movement of illegal goods and materials.”

“Joint military exercises such as Phoenix Express reaffirm and deepen our exceptional bilateral cooperation with Tunisia and ensure that we meet our shared goals of a safe and secure maritime environment through regional collaboration and interoperability,” said Donald Blome, the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia.

Phoenix Express is one of three regional maritime exercises by Africa-based U.S. Navy forces with allies and countries in the region.