Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has started a week-long visit to Britain, telling hundreds of students and academics that time alone will not heal the wounds of her country.

Her first public event in the U.K. was a debate Tuesday at the London School of Economics on how Burma, also known as Myanmar, can move to the rule of law, a reminder of the tough road ahead for the leader of the Southeast Asian country's reform movement.

Suu Kyi told the audience that "time will not heal. There has to be acknowledgment" of the wrongs of the past.

She said that "the progress that we hope to make with regard to democratization and reform depends so much on an understanding of the importance of the rule of law."

"Unless we can amend the constitution to harmonize with the aspirations of all the people in our country, we will never be able to bring about the kind of unity and peace that we all desire," she said.

First trip since 1988

Suu Kyi, who is on her first overseas trip since 1988, received a standing ovation as she took the stage during the panel discussion. Most in the crowd had come to hear her speak. But she listened intently to the academics and lawyers who appeared alongside her.

Suu Kyi has a long association with Britain, but she has not visited for 24 years. Many of those years were spent under house arrest in Burma.

Later, Suu Kyi will travel to Oxford, where she studied and lived for many years with her late husband, Michael Aris, and their two sons. Trip organizers said she would celebrate her 67th birthday there with family and friends.

On Wednesday, Oxford University will present her with an honorary degree that it awarded in 1993 but that she was not free to collect.

On Thursday she will meet Prime Minister David Cameron and address lawmakers in Parliament.

Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest by Burma's rulers for 15 years, and was freed in 2010. She decided to visit Europe after the Burmese government assured her that she will not be blocked from returning home.

She has been to Oslo to pick up the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 1991. During a visit to Dublin she was feted by dignitaries and U2 frontman Bono, a longtime supporter.

From figurehead to politician

The trip has at times had the feel of a triumphal procession, with Suu Kyi greeted rapturously by Burmese expatriates and Western supporters. But it also has underlined the challenges she faces as she moves from opposition figurehead to practical politician. She was released from house arrest in November 2010 and won a seat in the country's national assembly in April.

'During this journey I have found great warmth and great support from people all over the world.'—Aung San Suu Kyi

"She's moved into a completely different phase of her life and her political career, in many ways more problematic," said Suu Kyi biographer Peter Popham. "In many ways she's now on the inside. She can no longer be merely on a pedestal, she has to take decisions that can be right or wrong, criticized justly or unjustly."

In London, Suu Kyi she faced questions from the audience about ethnic conflicts along Burma's borders with Thailand and Bangladesh, and about how the military can be reformed.

Asked why she did not condemn the military more loudly, Suu Kyi said she condemned all violence -- but said that "resolving conflict is not about condemnation."

She acknowledged the difficulties ahead, but said she drew strength from supporters like the crowd in London, which sang "Happy Birthday" to her at the end of Tuesday's debate.

"During this journey I have found great warmth and great support from people all over the world," she said. "I think it's all of you and people like you who have given me the strength to continue.

"And I suppose I do have a stubborn streak as well."