Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- In the third case in the last two weeks , more than 100 passengers aboard a troubled boat required rescue in the waters between Australia and Indonesia . On Wednesday , Australian authorities plucked 162 passengers from a boat in distress located south of Indonesia . The rescued passengers were taken to Australia 's Christmas Island for initial security , health and identity screening . The authorities declined to say whether the people on the rescued boat were seeking asylum . This followed after a boat capsized near Christmas Island carrying an estimated 200 people seeking asylum on June 22 , and another boat accident occurred on June 27 . The number of deaths from these accidents are unclear , as authorities did not know how many people had been aboard the vessels . Dozens are believed to have died . Although it is n't clear whether the most recent incident involved asylum seekers , the issue of possible refugees boarding rickety boats to make the treacherous voyage to Australia has turned into an explosive political issue . The question for nations is what to do with people seeking help ? The world 's wealthiest nations like Australia or the United States are not always the most welcoming for potential refugees . A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report released last year described `` a time of rising anti-refugee sentiment in many industrialized '' countries . In Australia , the perception is that , `` everyday , we 're being flooded by boat people who are cheating the system , '' said Kon Karapanagiotidis , CEO of Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Australia . `` They 're illegal . They 're jumping the queue . Everyday , the news is reporting another boat has arrived and another boat has arrived . It 's feeding this idea that we 're being flooded . '' The number of asylum seekers in Australia and New Zealand decreased by 9 % in 2011 compared with the previous year , according to the latest report by UNHCR . Karapanagiotidis said aslyum seekers have turned into a `` political football '' and `` easy scapegoats '' without much understanding of why they embark on such dangerous journeys . Australia is not alone in grappling with the asylum issue , which is often unpopular and politically divisive . Read how the Australian Senate voted . Following the Arab Spring , waves of North African asylum seekers journeyed in boats to European nations such as Italy and Malta . This resulted in a 87 % increase in asylum requests in the area in 2011 compared with the previous year , according to UNHCR . In the western hemisphere , vessels carrying Haitian migrants have traveled across to the United States -- one boat sank in the Bahamas , killing at least 11 people in June . But the notion that most asylum seekers flock to developed , wealthy nations differ from the statistics shown by UNHCR . Eighty percent of the world 's refugees are hosted in developing countries , which the agency described as a `` deep imbalance in international support . '' Pakistan hosts the most refugees with 1.7 million . The second and third leading countries to host refugees at the end of 2011 were Iran and Syria . The 2011 report is the most recent one available by UNHCR and may not reflect the current crisis in Syria . The vast majority of refugees remain within their region of origin -- 17 % live outside their home region , according to UNHCR . `` Geography does play a big part of it , '' said Karapanagiotidis , on why asylum seekers ended up in countries like Pakistan and Iran . People are seeking the easiest and quickest escape to countries where `` immigration channels are available , '' he said . An asylum seeker is a person who wants sanctuary in another country and applies for the right to be recognized as a refugee . A refugee is recognized as a person who was forced to flee his or her country because of persecution , war or violence , according to UNHCR . Here are more statistics provided by a 2011 report by UNHCR : . Main destinations for new aslyum seekers . 1 . South Africa ( 107,000 claims ) -- half from Zimbabwe . 2 . United States of America ( 76,000 ) 3 . France ( 52,100 ) 4 . Germany ( 45,700 ) 5 . Italy ( 30,300 ) Major refugee-hosting countries . 1 . Pakistan ( 1.7 million people ) 2 . Iran ( 887,000 ) 3 . Syria ( 755,400 ) 4 . Germany ( 571,000 ) 5 . Kenya ( 566,500 ) Major source countries of refugees . 1 . Afghanistan ( 2.7 million people ) 2 . Iraq ( 1.4 million ) 3 . Somalia ( 1.1 million ) 4 . Sudan ( 500,000 ) 5 . Democratic Republic of the Congo ( 491,500 ) Continents where asylum seekers originated from . 1 . Asia ( 45 % ) 2 . Africa ( 27 % ) 3 . Europe ( 15 % ) 4 . Americas ( 8 % )
World 's wealthiest nations are not most welcoming to refugees , aslyum seekers . 80 % of the world 's refugees are in developing countries , with Pakistan leading . Political controversies persist in Australia over what to do with asylum seekers .