Acting Muda president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz said these changes could unfairly affect children who have so far been denied citizenship.

“It will be harder for them to gain citizenship because they already face difficulties.

“We call on all MPs to reject this amendment. Don’t use parents, mothers and children as hostages,” she said.

The memorandum was presented to a bipartisan group of MPs, including Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda), Syerleena Abdul Rashid (DAP) and Shahidan Kassim (PAS).

The government recently announced that it intends to amend the Federal Constitution to shore up what it sees as a citizenship guarantee exploited by foreigners.

Addressing the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said foreigners were coming to Malaysia, giving birth to their children and then abandoning the babies, knowing that they will be guaranteed citizenship according to Section 19B, Part III of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

This section presumes that an abandoned child was born to a Malaysian parent, thus guaranteeing the child citizenship.

Saifuddin also cited the cost to the health ministry, claiming that foreigners would abscond from government hospitals without paying their bills – a figure that reportedly runs into hundreds of millions of ringgit annually.

However, Muda reportedly objected to the degree of control which shifts from a presumed constitutional right to a decision made by the sitting home minister.

The government is also reportedly facing stiff opposition from a number of quarters about its proposed move. Opponents have said the amendment impacts children born to a Malaysian parent, in particular Orang Asli and the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak.