Romani children . The Balkan Romani are located in parts of Eastern Europe including Macedonia, Romani call themselves Rom, which in their language means "men." Rom is derived from the Indian word Dom, meaning "a man of low caste who gains his livelihood by singing and dancing." Romani have their roots in India.In its Preamble, Macedonia’s Constitution places the country’s Roma on an equal par with the minority Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Serbs, and Bosniaks. Macedonia’s government included the Roma language in its 1994 census, which encouraged many Roma to have themselves tallied as Roma. Beginning in 1996, four primary schools in Macedonia began offering instruction in the Roma language as an optional subject. In 1999, Macedonia was confronted with hundreds of thousands of refugees who had fled Kosovo. Prejudice against the Roma does exist in Macedonia, and manipulation of the Roma is evident in government policymaking. Policy decisions beneficial to the Roma have had more to do with a calculated effort by leaders of Macedonia’s majority to offset the will of leaders of the country’s ethnic-Albanian minority who have threatened the secession of areas of Macedonia with significant ethnic-Albanian populations. To this end, Macedonian political leaders have managed to co-opt much of the country’s Roma population and a significant array of Roma leaders. As a result, Macedonia’s Roma political parties have consistently stressed the loyalty of the Roma people to the Republic of Macedonia and its territorial integrity.By 2013, however, a growing number of Roma—especially, perhaps, educated young people—were faulting established Roma political leaders for doing too little to improve the harsh living conditions many Roma suffer and to press Macedonia’s government for greater inclusion of the Roma in the country’s political, social, and economic life.