Amnesty International is urging Britain not to deport a group of Sri Lankans, because they risk torture when they return to their country.

The rights group says Britain was set to return at least 20 Sri Lankans, mostly ethnic-Tamils, from London to Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, on Thursday.

Amnesty's Sri Lanka researcher, Yolanda Foster, says the end of Sri Lanka's civil war has not diminished the risks facing asylum seekers, including arrest and detention upon arrival in Sri Lanka. She says there have been cases where returned asylum seekers have been tortured.

Sri Lanka's war against the Tamil Tiger rebels ended in May of 2009, with the rebels' defeat. The United Nations says thousands of civilians, mostly ethnic Tamils, were killed in the final months of the conflict. Tens of thousands of other Tamils were placed in displacement camps.