Penniless old folk reaching island refuge (5)

I believe the answer is:

oasis

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'refuge' is the definition.
(I know that oasis is a type of harbor)

'penniless old folk reaching island' is the wordplay.
'penniless old folk reaching' becomes 'oas' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'island' becomes 'is' (abbreviation).
'oas'+'is'='OASIS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for oasis that I've seen before include "Desert pool" , "Britpop group" , "Fertile tract in a desert" , "Desert refuge" , "provides refuge" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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