And while she was always free to leave Myanmar, she chose to stay partly out of fear she would be denied permission to re-enter and be forced to live in political exile.

The ILO has long been a vocal critic of forced labor in Myanmar. The junta was shunned for its human rights abuses and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government led by Suu Kyi after her victory in a 1990 general election.

But after a 2010 general election and Suu Kyi's election to parliament last month, the United States and other Western governments have begun to roll back years of hard-hitting restrictions against the Asian nation, which is also known as Burma.

Suu Kyi also plans to visit Norway, where she will deliver her acceptance speech for the Nobel prize nearly 21 years after winning it. Her eldest son, Alexander Aris, had accepted the peace prize on her behalf during the 1991 ceremony. Norway's government said Suu Kyi will also meet Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg during her visit.