Migrants in South Africa shelters suffer cold and disease

By Paul Simao

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Jimmy Malish huddles under a blanket, looks at the darkening sky and prays that it doesn't rain again on him and the hundreds of other African migrants camped in the courtyard of a Johannesburg police station.

"We are living like dogs," the 26-year-old Sudanese refugee said on Tuesday at the Jeppe police station, more than a week after a mob, armed with knives and sticks, drove him and his foreign-born neighbours from their homes in a nearby township.

"Please tell somebody to help us."

His plea is echoed by Zimbabweans, Mozambicans and others from around the continent targeted in a wave of attacks in South Africa that have killed dozens of foreign workers and displaced tens of thousands.

Some estimates put the number of refugees at 80,000-100,000.

Although President Thabo Mbeki and other senior officials have condemned the violence, on the ground there are few signs the government has stepped in with significant aid for victims.

The lion's share of blankets, tents, clothes and food distributed in refugee shelters and camps have come from relief agencies, religious groups and individual citizens.

"This is a refugee crisis and it is unattended," said Muriel Cornelius of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). The French humanitarian group is providing health care to displaced migrants throughout the country.