By the Rev Dr Richard Frazer, convener of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland.
In recent weeks, the question of immigration has come to dominate the debate over the EU Referendum.
If we do not find a collective response to this humanitarian catastrophe, giving people the opportunity to integrate, feel safe, and a sense of belonging, we will have failed in a humanitarian duty.
To welcome the stranger is to invite a blessing and unanticipated gifts.
It is simply wrong and a denial of our history to believe that the challenge of immigration and the refugee catastrophe is someone else’s problem.
The end of the First World War saw the reshaping of the Middle East following the demise of the Ottoman Empire.
It was with British influence that many of the modern states and borders we now understand came into existence.
The unravelling of that post war project is what we are witnessing just now.
In a different way we are witnessing the potential unravelling of the European project, an enterprise that has secured the longest period of peace, stability, economic and social development that Europe has ever known.
In reality, our actions going back to the First World War and more recently our invasion of Iraq in 2003 have contributed at least in part to the migration crisis we are witnessing today.
To walk awaywould be a denial of the very humanitarian and moral values for which we stand as an active participant in global civil society.
One of the most common human characteristics that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve, is to blame others for misfortune.
In their case, they blamed the snake for tempting them to eat forbidden fruit.
In the case of those advocating an exit from the EU, it is common to hear people blame faceless bureaucrats in Brussels or a mighty onslaught of foreigners waiting at our borders to overrun our way of life.
It is worth asking exactly whom we think these faceless bureaucrats are?
In reality, many of them are British civil servants working under the instruction of elected representatives.
The British civil service is one of the best in the world. They are well organized, sensible and are one of the many reasons that our European colleagues would like us to remain in the EU.
The way to reform it is not to walk away but to increase our influence.
It is also questionable whether the fear of being overrun by immigrants is in fact a reality.
The two million refugees currently in mainland Europe, if properly supported by us all, would be readily accommodated, and most migrants want to work hard and make a contribution, as indeed they largely do.
Those who would tell us that the immigration catastrophe and the bureaucrats who erode our sovereignty in Europe are the cause of our woes are playing a dangerous game if they imagine that these problems can be resolved by exiting the EU.
The refugee catastrophe is not someone else’s problem, it is ours to resolve together. Whatever we decide next Thursday, it will still be with us the following day.
The European project is far from perfect, but in as much as it has successfully replaced bombs with bureaucratsit has enabled European citizens to enjoy unprecedented peace, stability and opportunity since the Second World War.
The issues we face are ones that we have in part made for ourselves and, remaining within Europe, we have the influence to be part of the solution rather than simply standing on the wings and laying the blame with the “other”. In this global world, there is no “them” and us, only “us”.