Glamorous, well-educated, the proud mother of two gorgeous little girls, Pamela Izevbekhai became a cause célèbre for campaigners advocating a more humane approach by the Department of Justice towards asylum seekers.

Next Thursday, she makes her final appeal to the Supreme Court. She will be represented this time by a Nigerian solicitor who practises here, her sixth legal team. The garda immigration authorities will once again challenge the authenticity of documents which she says prove that she had a baby daughter who died as a result of female genital mutilation in Nigeria. On the veracity of these documents hinges her case that she fears for the safety of her daughters Naomi and Jemima who live with her here.

Garda immigration officers are confident that this time they will win and that Izevbekhai and her daughters will be deported.

But even if this happens, falsehoods that surrounded this case should not undermine greater truths. It should not undermine the campaign against female genital mutilation which, despite the protestations of the Nigerian ambassador in this case, is widespread in many parts of Nigeria, as well as other African countries. The international campaign against this barbaric practice, spearheaded by the World Health Organisation, must be heard, believed and supported.

It also highlights this country's need for a more streamlined asylum system. Izevbekhai is now reckoned to have made over 25 High Court appearances in her quest to stay here. The cost is well over €500,000 – possibly twice that figure. As of last June, there were over 6,000 people living in asylum accommodation here and there was a backlog of over 4,000 applications, yet the Department of Justice is processing only 2,000 cases a year.

It is, of course, a complicated process, but for everyone's sake – the asylum seekers who want some dignity and certainty, and the Irish taxpayer who is spending €39m a year – a more efficient and transparent system that has within it an independent appeals mechanism needs to be introduced.

The system is not without compassion: five-year-old Ayodola Adekunle, a Nigerian girl with sickle-cell disease, was last week allowed to stay along with her mother and two sisters after representations from her doctors here.

Meanwhile, everyone's hearts go out to Naomi and Jemima Izevbekhai. They have spent the majority of their lives in Sligo; if the state wins, they will have to start again with new schools, new languages, new friends and new customs.