He had also already been arrested and tortured by government forces, accusing him of being an accomplice to the Tigers.
"They hung me upside down, and beat me with a pipe," he said. He is still unable to move his lower arm.
So his father paid an agent to take him to Germany, where he believed he would be safe.
After a marathon journey, he arrived at the German border 15 days later, and was promptly arrested.
He was handcuffed and led to a cell. When I asked how he was treated, he said, almost thankfully:
"They didn't hit me or assault me. But they kept me in a dark room. I was very afraid they would send me back to Sri Lanka."
He was later put in prison, where he shared a cell with common criminals. Not knowing any German, he spoke little. He saw in the new millennium in silence.
His worst fears seemed to be confirmed when the court ruled that he entered Germany illegally, and would be deported. Germany does not recognise people fleeing "non-state persecutors" such as the Tamil Tigers as refugees.
But he was granted a reprieve, and sent to a camp in East Germany. In a startling indictment of local racism, his bitterest rancour was reserved for the time in the camp.
He described how the local people beat him up, and spat at him on the street.
"I hated that place. The people were harsh," he said.
In desperation, he made his way to the UK, where he claimed asylum on entry. He stayed with a Tamil acquaintance for the first six months, while he waited for his application to be processed.
"I was very happy in London," he said.