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I arrived in Manus on Tuesday morning, and within an hour I’d met a handful of the refugees who have been stuck on this sweltering, remote island in Papua New Guinea for nearly five years.

To many, it feels like an eternity in limbo.

I met one man from Iran who got on a boat at age 20 to flee political persecution and now wonders if he’ll be able to study, work or leave Papua New Guinea before he’s 30. I met another who is 29 and who has come to accept that Manus may have to become his lifelong home.

Australia exiled these men to Manus and an even more distant island, Nauru, to keep them and others from trying to reach Australia by boat, and the boats have mostly stopped.