BERLIN: The UN children's agency says many child asylum seekers in Germany still have to spend long periods in unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and some have only limited access to education and don't receive adequate health care.

A study by UNICEF on the situation of 350,000 children and teenagers who have come to Germany as asylum seekers since 2015 says they often spend months or years in shelters where they sometimes witness or are exposed to violence and abuse.

The report released Tuesday said only a third of all children in asylum shelters have access to education. It adds that refugee children don't have the same access to treatment of chronic and psychological illnesses as German kids.

Some 447 asylum shelter workers were questioned anonymously for the study from May to September 2016.