Emirati influencer fined $2000 at Australian border for undeclared item

A Dubai-based travel blogger flying to Australia claims she was given a gift from her airline. Then she was given a $2000 fine.

Lays Laraya who was flying from Doha to Perth International airport with Qatar Airlines said she made the innocent mistake of walking into the country carrying a single red rose.

Under the country’s strict Biosecurity Act she was handed an on-the-spot fine for bringing foreign biomatter into the country, however the traveller from the UAE told Travel Insider she was not trying to smuggle the bud into the country. It was a gift and she was holding it for anyone to see.

“I had nothing to hide,” she said.

The blogger, who writes under the alias Skywards Freak, has amassed over 2 million kilometres in the air over 400 flights. However Laraya said Australia’s biosecurity declarations came as news to her. In fact, she claims the flower was a gift from the plane.

All international carriers arriving to Australia are required to inform passengers of the country’s biosecurity measures, including fines and, where possible, hand out declaration forms for travellers.

Laraya claimed that the rose had been a present from the air crew, after having written a glowing review for Qatar Airways services.

The influencer published a video following her interaction with Australian border agents, which has since been removed and temporarily paused her account .

The encounter was made even more surreal by the fact that she was dressed as a Barbie doll. The influencer was wearing a blonde wig and pink dress, as part of a video promotion.

When she was held up by border agents she thought it was due to her appearance, not due to what she was holding.

They asked Laraya several questions about her landing card, which she had filled in. She began to have suspicions that there might be a problem with the passenger arrivals card which contains questions about what travellers are carrying.

Laraya had declared that she was not taking plants or animal matter into the country.

Even though she was holding the flower, she told Insider that it never occurred to her that this was what had landed her in trouble.

“It didn’t pass through my mind that the rose was within the category of those plants,” she said.

“If I knew I was doing something wrong willingly, I would have thrown it away before.”

The blogger is understood to be appealing the fine.

She was returned the rose after it was observed and the stem had been cut, to avoid propagation. It is common practice for undeclared biosecurity items to be returned, once they pass requirements.

The Australian Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, which enforces biosecurity at the country’s borders says that travellers should be made aware of controlled items before travel. They advise passengers unsure if they can bring an item, or if it fits in any of the controlled categories, to declare it at the border on their arrivals card.

A passenger who fails to declare items, or provides false information, is liable for a fine and infringement notice.

However, airlines should make these rules clear with a mandatory warning that must be read to travellers.

Under the Biosecurity Act, the passenger’s airline carrier “must ensure that each person (including a member of the crew) on board the aircraft or vessel is given information about biosecurity requirements under the laws of the Commonwealth.”

The Herald has contacted the airline for comment regarding the origin of the rose.