pm and usually for a 10-day stretch128). However, other farm work, such as setting and picking vegetables and other fruit on neighbouring farms or plantations, only pays around 7 JD per day for a 7-hour work-day129. With wages failing to compensate for the irregular nature of the work, those relying on agricultural work were widely perceived by interviewees to be amongst the poorest camp residents. Because transport costs prohibit daily commutes to agricultural areas beyond the nearby villages, a common practice during harvest time is for several family members, or the whole family, to relocate temporarily to farms in Mafraq, Irbid, Ramtha and the Jordan Valley, camping in tents if other accommodation is not available 130. Although the survey identified little child labour amongst Jerash residents, and less than amongst ex-Gazans elsewhere, interviewees all agreed that during harvest season — particularly for olives — many children left school to help their families ‘for a week at least’ 131. Such absence from school was, interviewees claimed, widely tolerated, including by the schools themselves. The much higher reliance on agriculture can be partly explained by the camp’s location close to agricultural areas in Mafraq and Irbid. However, several interviewees also claimed that Jerash camp residents were preferred to other camp refugees for this work because they were willing to work for lower pay: Let me tell you something: over here the poverty and unemployment rate is higher, so they come here, because it is easy to find workers here and for a cheaper price. […] [This is as opposed to] Souf camp, [where] they have a national identity number, they can work, they have [proper] jobs 132. Therefore, this woman continued, ‘everywhere, in every location you will find someone from Gaza camp, everywhere, because they try to find job opportunities’133. At the same time, interviewees noted competition from Egyptian labour migrants, and, increasingly, from Syrian refugees: Egyptians and Syrians are cheaper than locals. With the Syrians now, we have a bigger problem, even the land we were working on, on the way to Souf, a Syrian family came, and started working on it. The landowner thinks that instead of picking us up from [Jerash] camp, the Syrian family will live there and will have their children work with them too. The landowner saves money this way: instead of spending 3 or 4 JD on transport, he will take Syrians or Egyptians. […] There is a lot of competition to be honest. Hopefully God will help us and help them134. Overall, work in the agricultural sector is essential for many ex-Gaza families of Jerash camp, although the income generated from such work is widely perceived to be insufficient, and often less than undertaking other low-cost, casual work, such as in construction. The agricultural nature of Jerash governorate — and the practice of leasing land for harvesting and subsistence farming and herding by Jerash residents — suggests that Jerash refugees could benefit more from holding land outside the camp than others. Indeed, the importance of agricultural land for Jerash residents is reflected in the fact that whilst During harvest, workers are also commonly provided with lunch at the end of the work-day. Residents are usually picked up between 5.30 and 6.30 am and return to the camp between 1.30 and 3 pm. 130 Focus group discussion with women working in Industrial Estates, Jerash camp, 29 January 2016. 131 Focus group discussion with male youth, Manshiyyeh, 10 February 2016. 132 Female, age 29, Jerash camp, 17 January 2016. 133 Female, age 29, Jerash camp, 17 January 2016. 134 Female, age 55, Jerash camp, 31 Jan 2016. 128 129 Fafo Report 2019:34 98