Returning home from work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Afghanistan, Dr Shorney says delivering healthcare in conflict zones is becoming increasingly difficult.

“The perception by some armed groups that health workers are targets means that we no longer enjoy immunity from attack and hence makes the operation of humanitarian agencies in conflict zones very difficult,” he says.

Dr Shorney has been working with a mobile surgical team who provide life-saving treatment for weapon-wounded people in Afghanistan, where security is dire. 

“We have no freedom to move about at all while in Afghanistan,” he says.

Life is confined to the ICRC compound, a bus and the hospital.

“We never set foot in the street.”

In September this year around 20 aid workers were killed by bomb strikes in Syria while delivering aid to Aleppo.

Despite the risks Dr Shorney finds this work hugely rewarding.

“It is professionally challenging but gives the satisfaction of having a visibly direct and hopefully beneficial impact on people who are mostly the innocent victims of relentless violence,” he says.

While Dr Shorney’s work has an obvious impact, he says that good intentions alone don’t justify the presence of western visitors in conflict zones.

“Make sure you have skills that are needed: your mere presence is not usually hugely beneficial to the locals,” he says.

“Work for a reputable agency and pay attention to the security briefings.”

Not only is it a tragedy when aid workers lose their lives, but these fatalities can compromise future aid work, according the Secure Access in Volatile Environments (SAVE) report released last month by aid research group Humanitarian Outcomes. 

The UN suspended all humanitarian aid convoys in Syria after the deadly air attack on aid workers in September.

“The security of aid workers is now paramount and because of the reduced respect accorded to us, it has become difficult to deliver direct medical aid where the fighting occurs,” Dr Shorney says.

Dr Shorney returns to Ballarat with renewed appreciation of the peace and freedom in Australia.

He has been doing stints of humanitarian work abroad since the early 1980s, from Africa to The Middle East and more.

“Nobody has actually tried to shoot or shell me since Bosnia in 1993 and before that Sri Lanka in 1987 when things we’re a lot wilder and looser,” he says.

He plans to spend a quiet Christmas with his family.

To donate visit redcross.org.au