CAMPAIGNERS circled Parliament aboard an open-topped bus today in protest at the “cruel” Rwanda deal as a new survey challenged Tory claims that those targeted for deportation are “not genuine refugees.”

The survey, by the coalition group Together with Refugees, found that almost half of asylum-seekers threatened with deportation to the African country are married or engaged, while a fifth have children.

The findings, published today, also revealed that three-quarters of the 213 asylum-seekers involved in the analysis have fled countries where 82 per cent are granted refugee status by the Home Office after reaching Britain.