quote above suggests, competitive pricing, along with personal recommendations, playing a key role: It is mostly for people I know. [...] My brother lives in [a town close to Zarqa]; say his neighbour, who is thinking of building a house, would talk to him, and he [my brother] will refer him to me. Then a person visits the neighbour and asks them ‘who worked on your house?’ and so on. Especially if the work is good, it brings me more work142. Aside from building/construction work, markets in Amman and Zarqa offered further casual opportunities, such as shifting goods as a market porter. Such work, we were told, was frequently found through ‘waiting’ in the right areas. For example, camp men reported getting up at 5 am to wait in the hope of being picked up as casual day-labour, both in the camp and in locations in Zarqa and Amman, such as Sweileh. Once picked up, residents actively pursued contacts for future work. Nevertheless, such work is at best uncertain, as there are limited jobs available and ex-Gazans compete with the sizeable migrant labour population, particularly Egyptians, and other poor Jordanians. According to a couple of interviewees, only 30% of the time that ‘you go to the market, you’ll work, and 70% [of the time] you'll go home [...] There are many Egyptians [to compete with] because they pay them less’143. A major grievance, therefore, is outlays associated with travelling to Amman or Zarqa when no work is found. Regular work outside camps Casual, short-term or irregular opportunities may be available in the northern governorates or in Amman or Zarqa; however, the problem for ex-Gazans is securing formal, or at least regular, work outside camps that may make commuting more feasible. While this does not necessarily mean a better wage, it may mean that transport is organised by the employer or that it can be organised in advance or as a group, making it more affordable and reliable. We now turn to the type of regular work interviewees had been able to find outside of the camp before looking at the possibility of relocating temporarily for the duration of the job to reduce transport costs. Professional and office work Given the restrictions faced by ex-Gazans on public employment and a range of other professional positions, options for professional or office work outside the camp are limited. Yearly security screenings and two-yearly renewal of passports 144 also pose de facto hurdles to securing regular employment and contracts in white-collar sectors: Those of us who want to work as an employee [mowazzaf] are shocked, I mean the employer will make an issue if they know you have a 2-year temporary passport. This is even the case for our daughters who work in private schools in Amman. I mean, they [employers] will tell you […] “in your case [as an ex-Gazan] we will need go through security procedures, you are an ex-Gazan so no we don’t want you”, they will exclude you, even though you are a university graduate, and you have high grades, and everything145. Male, age 32, Jerash camp, 3 February 2016. Male, age unknown, Hitteen camp, 21 February 2016. 144 Following this research, in February 2017, the Cabinet approved the issuing of 5-year temporary passports for ex-Gazans upon the second renewal. 145 Female, age 44, Jerash camp, 19 January 2016. 142 143 Fafo Report 2019:34 100