YANGON, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The Myanmar authorities have warned against exploitation of orphans for labor, left by a recent cyclone storm, a local weekly journal quoted the Department of Social Welfare as reporting Sunday.

    If such cyclone orphans are found to be used as laborers, severe action will be taken against the offenders in accordance with law, the department warned, calling for people to expose such cases.

    According to earlier reports, the authorities have banned adoption of cyclone orphans by any organization and any individual, promising that such survived orphans would be jointly taken care of by the government, domestic non-governmental organizations and resident United Nations organizations.

    The authorities also said it would help find the orphans' survived relatives to enable family reunification and provide education for them up to university or institute level depending on the orphan's wisdom and skill.

    While accommodating the orphans in cyclone-lesser-hit Maubin and Myaungmya in Ayeyawaddy division, the government is also building two orphanages in cyclone-hard-hit Phyapon and Laputta inthe same division to house 300 orphans each, the earlier report said, adding that so far there has been 130 cyclone-survived children officially registered as orphans out of an initially-estimated number of over 500.

    The planned setting up of orphanages constitutes part of a special program of Myanmar's relief work.

    Meanwhile, Myanmar gave polio vaccination last month to 540 cyclone-survived children under five years of age in relief campsin Laputta with 720 others ranging from 9 months to 10 years of age also given measles vaccination.

    According to the United Nations Children's Fund, of the 2.4 million people affected by the cyclone storm Nargis, 960,000 or 40percent were estimated to be children.

    Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago,Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.

    Myanmar estimated the damage and losses caused by the storm at 10.67 billion U.S. dollars with 5.5 million people affected.

    The storm has killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured, according to the latest official death toll.