By Mona McAlinden BBC Scotland news website

Kathleen Marshall said children in Scotland were more vulnerable

Kathleen Marshall's comments came after a new study said unaccompanied children had been given unsuitable accommodation in homeless hostels.

It also said they received inadequate mental health services.

Almost 200 children have arrived in Scotland alone to seek asylum since 2001. About a third came from Somalia.

The Scottish Refugee Council research found that more than 60% were aged 16-17.

Professor Marshall said under-18s seeking asylum alone in Scotland were more vulnerable than those in England, where specialist advisers supported them through the process.

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A Home Office spokeswoman said it recognised there were problems in the way the children were given care and said it had established a small team to examine ways of better serving the group.

The study, from Glasgow University's Centre for the Child and Society, found that the majority had fled their country of origin because of war, sexual assault or the death of family members.

The research, which centred on 30 children and representatives of more than 70 agencies, found that services varied dramatically across Scotland.

While the education system was the most positively received, accommodation was seen generally seen as "very poor".

The report stated: "Some children are housed in accommodation for homeless people, and find such places disruptive, abusive and dangerous.

"Others stay in bed and breakfast accommodation for considerable lengths of time."

The most glaring anomaly is the lack of any equivalent in Scotland of the independent panel of advisors in England Professor Marshall

It also described how many interviewees faced racism, isolation and mental health issues when they arrived in Scotland and concluded that support services and out of school activities were lacking.

It also called for race awareness training for all staff working with the minors as it claimed "the evidence of racism amongst staff working with unaccompanied asylum seeking children is very worrying".

Professor Marshall told BBC Scotland's news website: "I think the most glaring anomaly is the lack of any equivalent in Scotland of the independent panel of advisors in England.

"This leaves those in Scotland particularly vulnerable.

"Some of the worst effects of that have been mitigated by the dedication of some social work and education staff and children's rights officers, who are passionately committed to these young people; but that is no excuse for not addressing the matter more comprehensively."

Race equality

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum was examining the barriers that refugees and asylum seekers faced in accessing services and would publish recommendations this year.

She added: "The executive has provided funding to projects such as Operation Reclaim, run by Strathclyde Police, which creates safe after-school activities for asylum seeker children and children from the host community."

In response to the call for race awareness training, she said: "Public bodies in Scotland are subject to a statutory duty to promote race equality.

"We would expect such training to include raising awareness of race equality.