his or her country of origin or former habitual residence pending a determination of the asylum claim. 40. This notwithstanding, the authorities of the country of origin or former habitual residence may be aware of, or suspect, that a particular person has sought asylum in another country and may submit diplomatic assurances to the authorities of that country of their own initiative. Alternatively, the person concerned may seek asylum after diplomatic assurances have been submitted, for example, in the context of extradition proceedings. An asylum-seeker may also come within the terms of a general deportation agreement which contains an undertaking that he or she would be treated in accordance with international standards if returned to the country of origin. 41. Where diplomatic assurances concerning an asylum-seeker exist, they are part of the factual elements to be taken into consideration when determining whether the person concerned is eligible for international protection as a refugee. 64 C. Access to asylum procedures 42. Diplomatic assurances should not result in the denial of access to asylum procedures. Only formal grounds, such as the availability of protection in a “first country of asylum” or transfer of responsibility to a “safe third country” could form the basis for declaring an asylum application inadmissible. 65 Diplomatic assurances are concerned with the treatment of the individual concerned in the receiving State, and thus affect the substance of the person’s asylum application. They could not, therefore, give rise to a declaration of inadmissibility. The significance, if any, of such assurances for the well-foundedness of an applicant’s fear of persecution needs to be assessed in the context of the examination of the merits of the claim. 66 43. For the same reasons, an asylum application should not be declared inadmissible on the grounds that the host State has concluded an agreement on deportations with the applicant’s country of origin or any other country to which the State intends to deport the individual concerned. D. Diplomatic assurances and refugee status determination 44. Where the country of origin or former habitual residence has provided diplomatic assurances with regard to a particular individual, or where an asylum-seeker would come within the terms of a general agreement concerning the removal and subsequent treatment of certain categories of persons, such assurances are but one of the elements to be considered when examining whether the individual concerned is a refugee. 45. Diplomatic assurances cannot as such form the basis for rejecting an asylum application. They must be evaluated and assessed in light of all the circumstances of the 64 See also below at paragraph 49. On the criteria which must be met for a country to be considered a “first country of asylum” or a “safe third country”, see UNHCR, Asylum Processes (Fair and Efficient Asylum Procedures), above footnote 60, at paragraphs 10–18; see also UNHCR, Provisional Comments, above footnote 59, comments on Articles 26 and 27. 66 See below at paragraphs 44–55. 65 17