It is reasonable and legitimate for people to fear Europe’s “colossal crisis” of migration, the archbishop of Canterbury has said.

In his first comments about the EU debate, Justin Welby said a response to the great movement of people was needed at a European level and the UK must find a way of “taking its share of the load”.

Welby said people’s fears about migration should not be dismissed but communities can be “much more absorbent” than they get credit for and called for organisation at a “macro level” to address the crisis.

“This is one of the greatest movements of people in human history. Just enormous. And to be anxious about that is very reasonable,” he told the House magazine. “There is a tendency to say ‘those people are racist’, which is just outrageous, absolutely outrageous.

“In fragile communities particularly – and I’ve worked in many areas with very fragile communities over my time as a clergyman – there is a genuine fear: what happens about housing? What happens about jobs? What happens about access to health services?

“There is a genuine fear. And it is really important that that fear is listened to and addressed. There have to be resources put in place that address those fears.”

He said the scale of migration was “such an enormous challenge that it can only be handled at a European level” but the lack of a Europe-wide solution was “deepening the crisis very, very significantly”.

“A problem of this scale can only be dealt with by a response on an equally grand scale right across Europe, and we have to play our part,” Welby said.

Speaking of the EU referendum, the most senior cleric in the Church of England said there was no “correct Christian view” about the poll as God would not say vote one way or the other.

But he warned that the debate should be about Britain’s place in the world and what it does globally, rather than being “all about us”.

Addressing criticism of both camps that the debate has been too based on scaremongering, Welby said it was “legitimate” for the public arguments to be about fear, because the debate really matters.

“It should be about what we fear. Fear is a valid emotion. Fear of what happens if we leave, fear of what happens if we stay. You can understand why that really matters. Fear is legitimate,” he said.

“My hope and prayer is that we have a really visionary debate about what our country looks like. From those who want to leave, what would it look like? What would Britain look like, having left? What would be its attitude internationally? What would be its values? What are the points of excitement, of contributing to human flourishing? How does that liberate the best that is within us?

“And from those who want to stay, how would we change the European Union? How would we make it more effective if we remained in it? What’s our vision? It mustn’t all be about us. It’s got to be about us, but about what we do in the world. This country has this extraordinary history, going back hundreds of years, of outward-looking, confident, often wonderful work around the world.”

