Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi left Myanmar Wednesday on her first trip to Europe since 1988 to formally accept the Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1991, when she was under house arrest.

During her more-than-two-week tour, Suu Kyi will first arrive in Switzerland and address a conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva and then head to Oslo, Norway, where she will collect her Nobel Peace Prize.

The veteran activist will also join a "family reunion" in Britain, according to her party, and celebrate her 67th birthday on Tuesday in the country.

"I would like to do my best for the interests of the people," Suu Kyi told reporters before her plane left Yangon airport.

Myanmar's pledge to end forced labor will see it regain full membership of the ILO, the agency said Wednesday.

"Full membership rights for Myanmar will be re-established at a vote at about 6 pm," said Kari Tapiola, special advisor to ILO Director General Juan Somavia.

Suu Kyi leaves as western Myanmar is rocked by sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya that has left dozens dead and prompted President Thein Sein to warn of disruption to the fragile reform process.

Suu Kyi could face calls in Europe to address the underlying sectarian issues, although analysts say she may instead choose to focus on the wider topic of human rights.

The Myanmar government and many Myanmar people consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants and view them with hostility.

A spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party said the former political prisoner had instructed him to work "to help both sides equally" before she left for Europe.

Vijay Nambiar, UN chief Ban Ki-moon's special adviser on Myanmar, flew into the capital of Rakhine state Wednesday to visit Maungdaw, a town near the border with Bangladesh, where the violence flared on Friday.

"We're here to observe and assess how we can continue to provide support to Rakhine," Ashok Nigam, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator who was also in the group, told AFP.

A leader of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh camps appealed for help from Aung San Suu Kyi Wednesday, accusing her of ignoring the plight of the minority group, who the UN says has suffered decades of discrimination in Myanmar.

"Aung San Suu Kyi hasn't done or said anything for us, yet the Rohingyas including my parents campaigned for her in the 1990 elections," Mohammad Islam, from the Nayapara camp in the border town of Teknaf, told AFP.