there, rent is another expense’ 169. Rent is particularly a challenge with landlords requiring up-front payment for several months and additional expenses associated with electricity and water. Whilst some residents were reportedly able to rent out their house in Jerash camp to help cover the cost, the lower rental income inside Jerash camp only partly covers rents in Amman or even in Hitteen camp, making renting elsewhere untenable for most. Therefore, temporary relocation elsewhere — except for the brief stays in agricultural areas during the harvest season mentioned above — was mostly associated with higherpaid opportunities in mines and industry in the South, and construction work in Aqaba. For such employment, subsidised accommodation and stipends are often provided. As a young man explained: My brother worked like this: the company covered the cost of accommodation and his food: they gave him 50 JD per month [for accommodation], 100 JD for food. The salary was 600 JD. So overall, he made 750 JD. So, in cases like these, it works out well for the guys: you live together in the same place, get food that costs them 5 JD a day [together], 50 JD per month for food [each] […] So, you have 700 JD in your pocket. This way you can save […]. In this project that my brother worked in, the Rashedieh factory nearby Aqaba, many ex-Gazans from Hitteen and Jerash camps worked there. In that period, in 2014, the guys worked well. Now there is a similar project in Aqaba, and many of them have gone there 170. Thus, not fully captured by our research inside Jerash camp, a population of Jerash men seem to ‘disappear’ intermittently for weeks and months for employment throughout Jordan, particularly in construction and industries. For unmarried women, residing temporarily elsewhere for work was generally considered unthinkable; however, we came across a few cases where appropriate accommodation was provided and the job opportunity particularly good. Talking about his nieces, one middle-aged man 171 explained that: Some women here [with the appropriate education] get opportunities to work in Amman in centres for the handicapped. They go and work there, and accommodation is provided for them. [...] They stay there during the week, and come every weekend to the camp. […] My nieces work in an autism centre. I went there to see them and check that everything is all right. The centre has security, cameras, everyone is checked on entrance and have to be approved by the manager. […] [Interviewer: Are they happy in their work?] Yes. [Interviewer: Do they have contracts?] Yes. And social security. [Interviewer: And the parents are okay with that?] Yes. Because it is a closed centre, with only autistic children and women. I went and checked. Whilst there are notable success stories, such as this, of Jerash residents working and successfully establishing businesses outside the camp the general picture is of significant difficulty finding work outside the camp that pays enough to make it worthwhile and offers a reliable, regular income. This, in turns, exacerbates the insularity of the camp economy, and the limited availability of opportunities there. For many ex-Gazans in Jerash, the financial, time and particular status-related barriers to seeking work outside the camp combine with perceptions of discrimination and experiences of rejection to leave them, as we shall see in the next section, disillusioned and induce them to leave, or remain on the fringes of, the labour force. Female, age 55, Jerash camp, 31 January 2016. Male, age 23, Hitteen camp, 14 February 2016. 171 Female, age 39, Jerash camp, 19 January 2016. 169 170 ‘Just getting by’ Ex-Gazans in Jerash and other refugee camps in Jordan 105