How should asylum seekers be distributed across EU member states? And can EU citizens agree on the principles underlying such distribution? While scholars have proposed various fairness principles – such as allocation based on population size, wealth, or past intake – we know little about which principles citizens support. Using an original population survey in six EU member states, this study examines public preferences for distributive fairness in asylum governance. We find widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo of large asymmetries in refugee numbers and broad support for European responsibility sharing based on fair distribution. However, there are significant differences between member states in the principles that citizens support, and these preferences are also affected by the principles that would keep the number of refugees in their own country at a minimum. These findings suggest that while there is a transnational consensus on the need to move to a fairer distribution of refugees in the EU, its practical operationalisation reveals the deeper political divides on the matter.