British singer Joss Stone expressed relief that “nothing bad happened” when she went to perform in Syria.
Wrapped in a blanket, she posted a video on her Instagram and Twitter on Sunday talking about how scary it was to enter Syria as part of her Total World Tour, which will see the artists sing in every country in the world.
“It was a little scary as of course we have absolutely no idea what might transpire, we just have to trust the people on the ground that are advising us and looking after us. It was cold and wet but so nice to meet such welcoming, kind people”, she said in the video.
Stone visited the Kurdish controlled northeastern region of Derika where she sang for 70 people at a small hall.
She is said to have been accompanied across the border by war photographer Paul Conroy.
“Syria deserves not to be ignored, Kurdistan deserves not to be ignored”, she added in an appeal for her audience to remember those in the war-torn country.
The Syrian war began when the Baath regime, in power since 1963 and led by President Bashar al-Assad, responded with military force to peaceful protests demanding democratic reforms during the Arab Spring wave of uprisings, triggering an armed rebellion fuelled by mass defections from the Syrian army.
At least tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in the war, mostly by the regime and its powerful allies, and millions have been displaced both inside and outside of Syria.
The brutal tactics pursued mainly by the regime, which have included the use of chemical weapons, sieges, mass executions and torture against civilians have led to war crimes investigations.
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