STOCKHOLM, July 10 — British rock star Sting today said he has donated the money he received from a prestigious Swedish music award to a non-profit project which helps young refugees in Sweden integrate through music.

Known for promoting human rights through his music, the 65-year-old singer and US jazz star Wayne Shorter in February won the 2017 Swedish Polar Music Prize, which awards each laureate one million kronor (RM507,100). 

"I was deeply honoured to be awarded the Polar prize this year and I am pleased to now donate the prize money to the Swedish youth initiative Songlines,” Sting said in a statement released on the project’s website.

"Music can build bridges and this project illustrates what an important role music can play in giving young people on the run an opportunity to connect to a new society,” the singer of Shape of My Heart and Fields of Gold added.

The Songlines project involves young asylum seekers mostly from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Syria who have fled war and now stay at refugee shelters in Sweden. The project says it offers them musical activities to help them integrate into society.

"New friends are made and language is better learnt with music as a tool,” Julia Sandwall, national coordinator for Songlines, said in the statement. — AFP