BRUSSELS, March 12 (UPI) -- The EU Parliament called Thursday for an immediate halt to violence in Sri Lanka in order to provide aid to a growing humanitarian crisis.
The EU Parliament adopted a resolution Thursday that calls for a cease-fire in northern Sri Lanka, where an estimated 170,000 civilians are trapped between Sri Lanka army forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the EU Parliament reported.
The resolution calls on all sides in the conflict to halt the violence and allow humanitarian aid workers to escort civilians out of the region. The Parliament joins the Brussels-based International Crisis Group and the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Committee of the Red Cross in calling for a cease-fire in order to counter an escalating number of deaths caused by the violence, starvation and widespread disease.
The EU Parliament additionally "demands that international and national humanitarian organizations, as well as journalists, be granted full and unhindered access to the combat zone and to the refugee camps," according to a news release.