By John Phillips

ROME

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has joined in the chorus of shocked comments over the photograph of a Syrian child found dead on a Turkish beach, calling on Europe to “not lose face" by denying succor to refugees.

"The images that we see are heartrending and mind shattering," said Renzi, adding: "I say so as a father even before as a prime minister."  

Renzi made his remarks after Italy said that it would give shelter to some 300 to 400 refugees in the German-speaking Italian region of Alto Adige.

Recently, provincial authorities in the regional capital, Bolzano, announced they would suspend the Schengen agreement at the Brenner frontier in response to a request by Germany to Italy for assistance with refugees from the Balkans.

Alto Adige President Arno Kompatscher, however, denied that the region was suspending Schengen, saying Thursday that there was "exclusively an intensification of controls."

The initial statement said that Italy was suspending Schengen as had happened before for security reasons during a G7 meeting held on the peninsula.

The Italian offer followed an announcement by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier that Berlin was collaborating with Italy and France for "a more fair distribution" of refugees in the European Union.

In Sardinia, meanwhile, a Norwegian freighter carrying 781 refugees and the bodies of six people who perished off the Libyan coast was due to arrive at the port of Cagliari, following a series of rescue operations off Libya, maritime sources said.

In Rome, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said that he was not surprised that the EU at last was taking action on the refugee issue as "the events are persuasive," referring to the influx of refugees from Syria, the Balkans and north Africa.