In Syria, the Kurds dress up in their national dress and celebrate the New Year. According to Human Rights Watch, the Kurds have had to struggle to celebrate Newroz, and in the past the celebration has led to violent oppression, leading to several deaths and mass arrests. The Syrian Arab Ba'athist government stated in 2004 that the Newroz celebrations will be tolerated as long as they do not become political demonstrations. During the Newroz celebrations in 2008, three Kurds were shot dead by Syrian security forces. In March 2010, an attack by Syrian police left 2 or 3 people killed, one of them a 15-year-old girl, and more than 50 people wounded. The Rojava revolution of 2012 and the subsequent establishment of the de facto Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria saw Kurdish civil rights greatly expand, and Newroz is now celebrated freely in most Kurdish areas of Syria except for Efrin, where the ritual is no longer allowed since the 2018 occupation by Turkish-backed rebel groups.