External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has impressed upon the need of curbing the malpractices perpetrated by unregistered Agents who dispatched innocent people abroad on the false pretext of overseas employment and thereafter abandon them. <br/><br/>She said, these helpless victims are left in the lurch in the foreign land, penniless and the Indian Government is hard pressed to secure their rescue and repatriation.<br/><br/>At a meeting on promoting safe and legal migration overseas with NRI Affairs Ministers of States and Union Territories in New Delhi yesterday, Mrs Swaraj exhorted that since these agents function from the States' jurisdiction and law and order being a State subject, it is incumbent on the State Government to take stringent and punitive action against them which would abate this menace. <br/><br/>The Minister outlined the four-point agenda of the Government on rescue and repatriation of distressed workers abroad to include free repatriation on government cost in case of war or natural calamity and in case of company closure of legally migrated persons. <br/><br/>In case of illegal migration, the emigrant would be brought back only once the State lodges FIR against the illegal agent and cost would be recovered from the agent. <br/><br/>If a person goes illegally in the second instance, the cost would be recovered from the person and his passport would be suspended for five years. <br/><br/>