The private sector Work inside Jerash camp UNRWA’s capacity to replace public sector employment for ex-Gazans is limited, and exGazans overwhelmingly work in the private, often informal, sector (see chapter 6, Table 24). Some find work in the areas around the camp, or even further afield; however, with no major industrial hubs in Jerash governorate, ex-Gazans in Jerash camp rely much more heavily on work inside the camp than residents of other camps. They also more often work in their immediate neighbourhood. Shops, workshops, and small businesses Interviews suggest that residents engage in a wide variety of small businesses, trade, and services targeting both the camp population itself and residents of nearby villages who come to the camp’s market, including the weekly bird market; the general practitioner and dental clinics; and the mechanics and craft workshops on the Jerash road because the camp is closer than Jerash city and, importantly, cheaper. Whilst ex-Gazans generally cannot obtain the commercial registrations (sijil tijari) to open businesses outside of camps, they are allowed to do so inside the camp, and the Department of Palestinian Affairs issues a ‘certificate of occupancy’ for businesses in the commercially registered plots on the main streets 92. In these areas, close to the medical centre, schools, and several CBOs, you find supermarkets, a variety of shops, cafes, butchers, and bakeries. Workshops stretch from the lower eastern side of the camp and into Manshiyyeh along the Jerash road, which, although formally outside the camp boundaries, is considered integral to and a de facto extension of the camp for commercial purposes. In the more residential areas of the camp further from the main roads and market it is not uncommon to see front rooms or part of houses converted into small, one-room shops selling anything from snacks to detergents to stationary 93. According to interviewees, these very small shops often serve as an opportunity to earn a little on the side but are not perceived to bring much income — a few extra JD a day or a week. As a university graduate working in his uncle’s mechanics shop explained: ‘Abu [Mohammad] was a teacher in UAE, and he is now retired. He got bored, so he opened the shop’ 94. For other businesses and shops, commercial activity is a primary source of income. One successful woman, renting her shop for 25 JD monthly in the market area of Jerash camp95, had started by selling home-made crafts she produced at the Women’s Centre. Later, with the help of a start-up grant from an organisation, she commenced buying goods from wholesale traders in Irbid and Ramtha and selling these in the camp96: I used to deal in shoes, which I used to get from Ramtha. I used to go from here [Jerash camp] to Jerash [city], then from Jerash to Irbid, then from Irbid to Ramtha. Unless business is subject to health and safety regulations, or syndicate rules, in which case approval is needed from the relevant line Ministry and/or syndicate (interview with DPA, 8 February 2016). 93 In the residential areas of the camp, refugees can open 1-2 shops on condition that 50% of the house is used as a residence, to preserve the residential character (interview with DPA, 8 February 2016). 94 Male, age 29, Manshiyyeh, 26 January 2016. 95 The local Camp Services Committee build commercial houses in open areas of the camp and rents these out to businesses based on tenders that the committee assesses. The rental income is used to fund the committee (interview with DPA, 8 February 2016). 96 Female, age 50, Jerash camp, 17 January 2016. 92 Fafo Report 2019:34 90