People whose asylum claims have been rejected in the United Kingdom are being repatriated on often half-empty private jets and charter flights, which have already cost the British exchequer some 14 million pounds ($23 million), local media reported Friday, citing figures obtained under the freedom of information act.

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MOSCOW (Sputnik)At least 54 private jets were used to deport almost 3,000 people in the 18 months to June, 2015, with each specially chartered plane estimated to cost an average of £250,000 (almost $390,000), the Daily Mail newspaper reported.

"Those with no right to be in the UK should return home. We expect and will help people to leave the country voluntarily. Where they do not, we will seek to enforce their departure," a Home Office spokesman was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Charter flights are used for deportations to destinations which are served by a limited number of scheduled flights or where scheduled flights have insufficient capacity to "meet demand," the spokesman added.

On Thursday, media reports emerged of a recent case in which a stretch limousine, at a cost of 3,000 pounds, was used to ferry migrants out of a historic British village that was struggling to cope with an influx of asylum seekers. The ensuing controversy forced a Home Office contractor to apologize for the incident.

The United Kingdom has adopted a tough approach on immigration, opting not to participate in a EU-wide migrant redistribution scheme to alleviate the migrant crisis which has hit some peripheral EU states.

Earlier in October, UK Home Secretary Theresa May called for the number of asylum applications being made in the country to be reduced.